Princess of Thieves
by Lily Angel of Chaos
Summary: The Pharaoh and his Queen lost their daughter when she was 10 years old. 10 years later, a mysterious girl turns up with no memories of her past, and magic flowing through her veins. Not a Mary-Sue! Yaoi. HAVE LOST INTEREST, ON HIATUS. NEW AUTHOR WELCOMED
1. Fight

_This is my first story for Yu-gi-oh, and I tried hard, so be nice!!Pairings are:_

_Yami X Yugi_

_Atemu X Heba_

_Marik X Malik_

_Jou X Seth_

_Bakura X OC._

_It might have Ryou in it, it may not._

_Summary: The Pharaoh and his Queen lost their daughter when she was 10 years old. 10 years later, a mysterious girl turns up with no memories of her past, and magic flowing through her veins. After finding out she is the missing princess, they welcome her back. But she has changed from a gentle girl into a fighter, and the only person who can get to her is her partner in crime, the King of Thieves._

The girl was thrown onto the floor of the throne room. She was completely unconscious, and dressed in what appeared to be a black cat-suit and black heeled boots. Her outfit clung to her perfect form, and she had on fingerless black gloves. Her hair appeared to be black with magenta tips, but the hair at the front of her head was blonde, and when she was standing up usually covered half her face. Had someone looked at her eyes they would have noticed them to be a deep violet that turned to blood red in the right light. Her sharp features were calm, but normally were twisted into some expression, most likely defiance. She was Sakhmet, also known as the Princess of Thieves.

The Pharaoh and his family looked down at the girl from their thrones. Pharaoh Aknankanon was seated in the main golden throne, with his wife Queen Amara on his right. One either side of them were their sons; the Crown Prince Atemu and Prince Yami. Gathered to one side were the Lords of the Mutou household; Lord Heba, Lord Yugi, Lord Jou, and Lord Malik. On one side of the room were the priests, the head of the priests being High Priest Seth. The captain of the guards, Captain Marik, was stood slightly behind the girl he had just brought in, along with another guard.

"What is she here for?" Pharaoh Aknankanon spoke harshly.

"She is here for attacking a man and we strongly suspect that she is involved in other crimes." Captain Marik replied.

"Why is she unconscious? We can't speak to her if she is unconscious, and if we can't speak to her then she can't have a trial, and if she can't have a trial then we can't do anything to her. So wake her up!" the Pharaoh demanded.

"Yes, my Pharaoh."

"There's no need to wake me up." A voice came from the girl, who still looked like she was completely unconscious. She then suddenly flipped up, her heeled boots hitting Marik and the other guard in the face, and then she landed perfectly on her feet, smirking. When Marik lunged at her growling with anger she dealt a high kick to his chest, sending him stumbling backwards crouched over in pain and then uppercut him sending him crashing to the floor, unconscious.

"Marik!" Lord Malik looked shocked at his husband lying on the floor, unconscious. The other guard backed away slowly, fearful of what might happen to him should he attack her. Captain Marik was the best fighter in the kingdom, yet this girl merely knocked him out like he was nothing. Sakhmet smirked again, and then turned to face the Pharaoh and his family. "Good day, my Pharaoh." She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, and the obviously fake bow she did didn't help the Pharaoh's mood at all.

"What is your name, girl?" his anger obvious, though he had to restrain himself. Also, he couldn't help but think he had seen that face before.

"I am Sakhmet, Your majesty."

"Sakhmet, you were seen attacking a man, and you are almost certainly involved in other crimes. What do you have to say for yourself?" Pharaoh Aknankanon was almost certain he had seen her before, yet was angry at how disrespectful she was. However, much to his annoyance, her smirk merely grew.

"I think you will find that the man was trying to make me a slave, and as for anything else..." She looked up at him."What is it you suspect I've done?" in a very sweet and innocent voice. Aknankanon growled at that statement. Because the man had tried to make her a slave and she was free, she hadn't done anything wrong, and he couldn't prove any other crimes.

"Guards..." He never got to finish that statement, for at that moment a group of raiders burst in. The guards immediately charged at the invaders, but found themselves outnumbered. When the priests tried to help them, they were thrown back with a wave of magic, throwing them against the wall.

"Seth!" Lord Jou cried out, running over to his husband. The others looked, and then drew their weapons ready to fight, and Jou soon joined them, a look of anger on his face. They looked at each other, and then most dived into the fray, leaving the Pharaoh and his queen next to their thrones. Aknankanon surveyed the battle, then his eyes widened in surprise as he saw Yami and Atemu being thrown into a side wall by magic, and collapse. They were still conscious, but were clearly in a lot of pain. A man then came out, advancing upon the two princes with his sword in hand.

"Atemu! Yami!"

The two princes looked up in fear at the man standing above them. They were going to die, they could feel it.

"Goodbye, princes!" The man laughed, and brought his sword down on them. The two boys closed their eyes waiting for the end to come. But it never did. When they slowly opened their eyes, they saw that the sword was hovering above them, and with the man was Sakhmet, whose black gloves were wrapped around the handle of the sword and were pushing it back, a look of determination on her face. She then managed to push the sword almost into his face and through him back, making him stagger backwards. "My princess! It's such a pleasure to see you again!" He said in a tone that clearly stated otherwise.

"Shut up, Amun. We all know you're a pathetic excuse for a thief. And raider. And a fighter, as well." Sakhmet smirked.

"I thought that you hated the Royal family. Or maybe that is just a front." He said. Had either of them been paying attention to their surroundings, they would have noticed that everyone had stopped fighting and was looking at the pair.

"A front? How dare you accuse me of lying? You're the one who lies, Amun, and everyone knows it."

"If it is not a front, then why did you save the princes lives? With them dead, our problems would be almost gone."

"I do not believe in killing people to solve our problems. If you killed them, then you would have a lot of anger directed at you. Besides, it's much more fun to hurt someone to get at them rather than kill them. Teaching them a lesson? Yes. Hurting them? Yes. Beating the crap out of them? Yes. Torturing them? Yes. Killing them? No." Sakhmet finished. Amun sneered.

"If you're going to stand in my way, then you're gone to have to die. Men, attack her!" Te men formed a line in front of Amun, all armed to the teeth ad grinning at Sakhmet.

"Look at the odds, Princess. There are ten of us, and one of you." One of them said.

"Get another ten, and it'll be a fair fight." Sakhmet said. The men, angered, leapt at Sakhmet, who started blocking them with her arms and legs. She delivered a high kick to one's head, and he crashed down unconscious. However, instead of retrieving his weapon, she just carried on fighting with her hands and feet. That was, until all the men were on the floor, unable to get up. Sakhmet, however, barely had a scratch. "That was boring. Ready for an actual fight, Amun?" Amun merely growled.

"I'll kill you, my Princess." He said the last part mockingly. Sakhmet smirked, then, somehow, although no-one was sure how, she had blades in her hands.

"Show me what you've got." The two leapt at each other, and soon became a twisting form that nobody could follow, and all they could make out were the occasional flashes of metal. In the fight it could be seen that Sakhmet was merely toying with Amun, who was trying his best and was getting very exhausted. In one last desperate attempt, he plunged a dagger into her shoulder, and then sent her flying backwards with magic. However, she managed to land on her feet. Once there, she smirked."Was that supposed to hurt?" She asked, mocking him. People stared at her in shock. She had a 9 inch dagger buried almost to the hilt in her shoulder, and yet if you had just looked at her face then you wouldn't have been able to tell. Amun grunted, and sent another wave of magic towards her. Sakhmet threw her arm out, sending her own wave of magic that destroyed Amun's and pinned him to the wall. Now his expression changed from anger to fear as she approached him. "This is for ruining my outfit." She said, before she pulled the dagger out of her shoulder, and plunged it into his. Amun couldn't hold back his scream as it went in, and soon feel to the floor and fainted from blood loss. "Pathetic." She whispered as she looked at his body in disgust. She turned away and walked a few steps before stopping, and then blacking out herself. A knife to the shoulder can do that to anyone, you know. Most in the throne room were staring, shocked as to what had just taken place in their usually quiet court room.

_I know that the fight scene isn't one of the best, but you'll just have to use your imagination!! Please be nice!! If you don't review, I may discontinue the story!! R&R, Please!!_


	2. Identity

_Okay, here we go with chapter 2. I'm sorry for the long time it took to update, but unfortunately for you, I'm very lazy. Just so you know, she has now been missing for 10 years, not 7, otherwise I would have a 15 year-old Yami and a 14 year-old Yugi in a sexual relationship. So, here are the ages:_

_Sakhmet-20_

_Bakura-20_

_Seth-19_

_Yami-18_

_Atemu-18_

_Jou-18_

_Marik-18_

_Malik-18_

_Yugi-17_

_Heba-17_

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The Pharaoh looked down at the unconscious girl in a hospital bed with bandages around her shoulder. Her face was calm for the moment, and her body was covered with a single white linen sheet. Curious, he opened one of her eyes, and was startled to discover she had ruby-red eyes the exact shade as his own. He straightened and thought. There was only one girl in the world who had those eyes as far as he knew, but she was dead...wasn't she? He gave her one last look, and then went off to find Mahado, the palace's magician.

***********

"So, who so you reckon she is?" Heba, Atemu, Seth, Jou, Yugi, Yami, Malik and Marik sat in one of the many lounges, and pondered that question as Heba asked it.

"I don't know. Although, her hair did look similar to ours, right Atemu?"

"Yes, Yami. Your right. But why? Other than you, me, father, Yugi, and Heba, I didn't think there was a single person in all of Egypt with that colour hair. Until she showed up, that is." The others all nodded.

"Did any of you notice what that creep Amun called her?" Seth asked suddenly.

"No, we were all too busy fearing for our lives. What does it matter, anyway?" Jou asked him, his tone confrontational as always.

"He called her Princess." This remark left very confused expressions on all of their faces.

"But...why?" Seth sighed.

"I...don't know." He answered.

"Ha. We have finally found something that Seth doesn't know! It's a miracle!" Marik shouted. Seth growled in response, and Jou put a hand on his arm to stop him from trying to fight Marik.

"Marik?"

"Yes, love?"

"Not appropriate."

"But Malik..."

"Shut up or you're sleeping on the couch for a month." Marik eyes widened, and he shut up. Malik turned back to the rest of the group.

"Now, let's get back to the matter at hand..."

**********

"Mahado, I have a favour to ask."

"What would you like me to do, Aknankanon?" Since the two had been childhood friends, and Mahado was one of Aknankanon's most loyal allies, he could call him by his name.

"I would like you to use a spell to determine Sakhmet's parents."

"I see. Do I need to know the reason you ask?"

"No."

"Very well." Mahado bowed, and then left. Aknankanon hadn't told him because he didn't want anyone to get their hopes up, also, he didn't think it possible. No, he thought, it's all wishful thinking. And yet...he just had to be sure, to prove it to himself that it was just that; wishful thinking.

**********

"Hello, Isis."

"Mahado!" The two embraced and briefly kissed. "What brings you here, Mahado?"

"Aknankanon asked me to check who the girl's parents were."

"Oh." Mahado smirked.

"I think that both you and I can guess why he asked that." Isis nodded in reply. "Now, I must perform the spell." He walked over, and leant over Sakhmet's unconscious form. He placed both hands on her forehead, closed his eyes, and murmured a few words in a language that no-one could truly understand. He then stepped back and gasped as an image of Aknankanon and Amara appeared in front of Sakhmet, and then faded away. He breathed out a sigh of relief. "Well, now that that's over with..." He walked over to Isis and kissed her briefly on the lips. "I will see you later, my love." And walked away to tell the Pharaoh the news.

**********

Aknankanon sighed, and hid his face in his hands. Inside, he felt conflicting feelings. He was happy about her being back after all these years, but he wondered how everyone else was going to react about having the princess back after so many years when they thought she was dead. He smiled. He, for one, was happy that his gorgeous little girl was back. Mahado looked at his friends' eyes. He saw him smile, truly happy for the first time in ten years. This meant very good news. Mahado was glad to see the Pharaoh smile, as it made him smile, and all their hope and faith that Sakhmet might one day return had paid off. But Mahado was thinking now about her rather than the others. She might have known, but if she had, surely she would have come back...no, Mahado was certain that Sakhmet had no idea who she was, and, having no memories of living here before meant that she might not fit in; she might even be a completely different person, which would cause some problems...

**********

"So who do you reckon she is?" The boys in the lounge were back to the beginning of their conversation, having gotten no-where in the past three hours. Then the Pharaoh walked in.

"Father, do you know anything?" Atemu asked while Heba sat on his lap.

"Yes. I know. You may want to brace yourselves." He told them as he sat down on a free seat. The boys all frowned, but stayed silent, waiting for him to say something. "Sakhmet...is the lost Princess Sakhmet. Your sister." He nodded towards Yami and Atemu. Everyone's eyes widened in surprise.

"Our...sister?" Atemu looked at Yami. There was a pause, and then everyone rushed to the door.

"I'm glad their happy." Aknankanon said, as he stood up and follow them out.

********

Isis was almost ploughed over as eight boys rushed into the healing wing and stood around a bed.

"What do reckon?"

"I don't know." Yami, who happened to be the nearest to Sakhmet, reached over and lifted up one of her eyelids. They all gasped as they saw blood-red jewels sparkle in the light.

"ONLY TWO PEOPLE TO A PATIENT AT ANY ONE TIME!" They all jumped and turned around to face a very angry Isis. "NOW GET OUT!" They all scrambled outside, but Yami and Atemu stayed where they were. Their father walked in with a smirk on his face.

"Isis, I think you just managed to scare the living daylights out of all of them."

"They were crowding my patient."

"I know." He turned to his sons and the unconscious girl. "Has she woken up yet?" He asked.

"Yes, she most definitely has, and she is wondering what in Ra's name is going on." Yami, Atemu and Aknankanon all gasped as Sakhmet opened her eyes and sat up, glaring at them. She smirked at the shocked look on their faces. "Now...could you please explain where I am and what I am doing here?"

_Okay, put your hands up if you saw that coming? What, all of you? Jeez, I wonder why? I hope you liked it!! R&R, Please!_


	3. Sister

"Now...could you please explain where I am and what I am doing here?" Yami and Atemu just looked at each other, and their father cleared their throat.

"I have something to tell you." Sakhmet just raised her eyebrows. "You are the Princess. My daughter." She just stared at him.

"You have got to be kidding me." She sounded so disbelieving.

"Mahado, the palace's best magician, did a spell to find out who your parents were. You can guess what the results where." She frowned and thought for a moment, then turned back to him.

"Why did you ask him to do that spell?"

"Because...well, we all felt as though we knew you and had seen you before. Also, your hair colours only belong to four people, me, your brothers, and you." Sakhmet carried on staring at him disbelievingly. Yami and Atemu couldn't hide their excitement anymore and tried to crush her in a bear hug.

"Sis!" They stayed like that for a while, and Aknankanon smiled at them all. Then Sakhmet's voice came out form the pile of black, blonde and magenta.

"Okay, you can let go now." When they eventually released her, she didn't look at them. "I need some time to think." She swung her legs over the side of the bed, and stood. Isis came rushing over when she saw the princess get out of bed.

"Princess, you really should get back in bed. It was only this morning that you fainted from blood loss; you really should take it easy." The princess frowned, and then looked at her bandaged shoulder.

"I guess that explains these then." Before anyone could react, she put her hand underneath the bandages, and ripped them off. She then examined the scar. "Hmm...I've had worse." She commented, before walking over to a window, its soft cotton curtain swaying the breeze. She took a deep breath of the cool air. Time, that was what she needed. Yes...time to think. Yami was about to go over to her, but his father's hand on his shoulder stopped him. He looked at him in confusion, but his father just shook his head, and left, indicating that Atemu and Yami should follow him. Just as they reached the door, they heard Isis call out;

"Princess!" All three whipped round to see Sakhmet standing on the window ledge facing them. Then she jumped, they gasped and ran to the window, and looked at the ground far below, expecting to see a figure lying there. But there was no body. There wasn't anything around the entire gardens; the nearest person being a guard on sentry duty.

**********

Sakhmet smirked as she scaled the wall with the agility of a cat. She could hear them panicking, and then being very confused. If only people looked up instead of down, they could see a lot more; she thought to herself. She at last reached the roof, and sprang onto it. She then sat on the edge with her feet dangling off it. She wasn't afraid of heights, and liked the view from here, as well as the way the calm breeze played with her hair. It was almost perfect. Almost.

**********

"Well?" Malik asked as Atemu and Yami came into the lounge and headed over to sit with their respective lovers.

"She said she needed time to think about it."

"And?" Asked Heba, sensing that there was more to this.

"Then she jumped out the window." They all gasped at this statement.

"So...she's..."

"No, she's not dead." Yami looked at his brother, silently telling him to carry on.

"When we looked out of the window, there was nothing there."

"So you don't know?" Atemu shook his head.

"No."

"Where do you reckon she went?"

"She went right here." They looked up to see a smirking Sakhmet perched on a shelf above them. She then pushed off and landed gracefully and silently on her feet. She sat down on the nearest empty seat, and leaned back.

"Where did you go?" Sakhmet sighed and placed her hand to her forehead in exasperation. They could be so stupid.

"I went to the roof. You thought I jumped down, but I actually jumped up. So let that be a lesson to you. Next time someone jumps out a window, make sure you look up as well as down."

"Is someone likely to jump out a window?" Malik asked.

"I am."

"Oh." They fell into an unpleasant silence. Yugi finally spoke up.

"So...are you going to stay?" He wanted to know if is big sister...yes his big sister, even if they weren't siblings, they felt like they were. The same with the rest of them.

"I don't exactly have a choice do I." Yami frowned at the words. Surely Sakhmet wouldn't have said something like that, it sounded bitter, and she was never bitter. He shrugged it off. It was probably her time of month or something like that. Just then, the Pharaoh burst in.

"Have you seen..." He trailed off noticing Sakhmet in the room. He frowned. "How did you get in here? The guards outside this room haven't seen a thing."

"Ever heard of a window?" She looked him straight in the eyes not showing one ounce of fear...or respect. He narrowed his eyes at her. Sakhmet had always been polite and caring. Now she didn't...maybe it was just those years of being away; her memory loss. Yes, that was it; he would have his little girl back in no time. Then Isis came rushing in.

"Sakhmet... (Pant)...you need to come... (Pant)...back to the healing ward... (Pant)...your shoulder..."

"I'm fine." Came the cold reply. Isis straightened up, and just looked at her. The princess rolled her eyes.

"Fine, I'm coming, if only because I know you'll keep asking until I do." She stood up, crossed the room with fluid steps and walked out the room, followed by Isis. Aknankanon followed the two women out, leaving the boys in silence.

"She's weird." Jou said from his position on Seth's lap.

"No kidding." Malik agreed, leaning back into Marik.

"Maybe you should give her a chance. After all, from the way she reacted she doesn't remember us, but I remember the way she was and I'm sure the rest of you do as well." One look said it all as Heba looked at the expressions on their faces. Yugi carried on from where his brother left off,

"Yes. She was a kind older sister to all of us." They all nodded their heads agreeing with him, all remembering their big sister.

**********

"Isis."

"Yes, Sakhmet?" The two were in the healing ward, Sakhmet sitting on her bed.

"They want me to be their big sister, don't they?"

"You are their big sister. They always looked to you if they had any problems, you always cared for them. You had a heart of gold."

"I don't anymore." Sakhmet looked straight at Isis, "Look, I've heard the stories about the Lost Princess, and how she was perfect. That's not me, Isis. I may be the same person physically, but I don't have a heart of gold and I'm certainly not perfect."

"Sakhmet, from what I've seen you are a tough young woman who can look after herself, but you're not bad, and you actually seem quite perfect." Sakhmet shook her head.

"I'm not." Then she looked around, trying to see is anyone was around. "Isis, I'm asking you to keep what I'm about to tell you a secret, okay?" Isis nodded, wondering what the young princess was about to tell her. "First..." Sakhmet took a deep breath and closed her eyes."I'm the Princess of Thieves." Isis's eyes flew wide in shock, and her hands went to her mouth. "Isis, I don't mean anyone in here any harm, but if they found out who I was, they, especially the Pharaoh, would be put in a very difficult position, and I don't want to put them there, okay?" Isis nodded, recovering from her shock a little.

"Sorry, it's just so...so shocking..."

"Don't worry, that's the natural reaction. Actually, I was thinking that you might try and kill me, which happens quite often." Isis remained silent. "The second thing is...well...normally you wouldn't have got me here that easily...but I came today because..." She looked at Isis with a pained expression, and the healer could tell that this information hurt. "Because when I use magic, I go weird the night after." Isis frowned. It was common knowledge that unless you controlled your magic you felt a rebound, something bad would happen to you, but what happened was specific to each person.

"What happens?"

"I start shaking, sweating, I lose control. That's the only time I cry, the only time I show pain. I become so vulnerable..." She turned back to Isis. "I don't like being vulnerable. I don't like the fact I can't fight back, that I'm not in control. I'm always in control, but when this happens..." Isis nodded. From what she had seen, Sakhmet was one of those people who were strong and didn't show any sign of weakness. "Don't tell anyone."

"Don't worry. I won't." Isis laid her hand on Sakhmet's shoulder. "Is there any way to help you, to stop it...?"

"...Just try to keep me cool. That helps the pain a bit." The healer nodded, smiling at the young thief beside her. "Oh look, the sun's set. Time for bed. How long until it starts?"

"Soon. I don't know when."

"Okay. Just try and get some sleep first, okay?" Sakhmet smiled and nodded, lying on the bed under the covers.


	4. Weakness

_Hey guys!! I know it has been a while but my computer hard drive went bust and then we went on holiday and then I couldn't get the Internet working!! Anyway, here's the next chapter!!_

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It was the middle of the night when it started. The first Isis could hear were whimpers coming from the ward. She rushed in to see Sakhmet twisted on the bed, white satin covers already on the floor. The princess jerked about, twisting her body into strange shapes, crying out. Screams and whimpers were issuing from her mouth, and sweat was pouring over her body in rivers. Isis rushed over, filled a bowl with cold water and got a cloth. She began to try and soak Sakhmet's forehead in water, not an easy task as the girl was now shaking violently, and was still tossing and turning, over the bed; she was going to fall off if she carried on. After about twenty minutes, the fit stopped; Sakhmet's body became still and limp, if it wasn't for the weak pulse and light breathing it would be as if she was dead. Suddenly her eyes shot open and Sakhmet gasped. Once her breathing had calmed down, she looked at Isis.

"Isis..."

"Yes?"

"Don't tell...anyone." Isis frowned in confusion at her words.

"Why not?"

"I don't...want them...to know...my...weakness..." Understanding lit up in Isis's eyes. Sakhmet was strong, and she didn't want anyone to know her weakness.

"Don't worry. You have my word, no-one shall know." Sakhmet smiled in response, and then slipped into the unconsciousness she had been fighting. Isis pulled the covers up on the sleeping girl. Sakhmet really was beautiful, yet her face hid many secrets, and Isis had a feeling she had only just scratched the surface.

*******

Malik walked down towards the dungeons, slightly worried about the insane look of happiness on his husband's face, but he shrugged it off as excitement. This was Marik's favourite part of being Captain of the Royal Guard; he got to torture the prisoners. The insane pair trotted down wet stone steps, descending into darkness. The guard by the entrance nodded at Marik and Malik, wordlessly letting them through. Marik stopped outside one cell, got out his ring of identical keys, and placed one in the key hole, and tried to turn it. It didn't work. Marik pulled the key out, and tried a different one. Honestly, there shouldn't be so many keys, thought Marik. Then I wouldn't get them confused!

I wish there weren't so many keys, thought Malik. Then Marik wouldn't have to make a fool of himself and concentrate on finding the right key. Although, he does look hot when he's concentrating... Eventually Marik found the correct key, and the pair entered the cell, walking straight towards the victim chained up against the wall.

"Welcome to the Underworld, Amun." The ragged man snarled.

"You don't scare me."

"Well we'll just have to amend that, won't we?" Marik told him with a psychotic grin on his face. Amun looked towards the door just as Malik pulled it closed, meaning the only light came from a flickering torch Malik held. "Let the nightmare begin."

*******

Amun the thief sat on his dank cell floor, still in chains and weakened by Marik and Malik's torture session. He looked up as the cell swung open again, this time revealing a figure clothed in all black. He began to shake in fear as he recognised the person.

"What's wrong Amun? A little scared, are you?" The figure asked sarcastically,

"Please, I'll do anything, just don't-"

"Sorry." In a voice that said the figure was anything but. "You don't deserve to be let off." He whimpered, and the figure stepped, the door closing behind, throwing the pair into complete darkness. Amun's screams were heard as a knife bit deep into his flesh.

*******

Isis walked in, surprised to see Sakhmet already up.

"Good morning."

"Morning, Isis."

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, just a little hungry."

"I'll go get you something to eat." Replied Isis with a smile. As she went off in search of some food, Sakhmet took a proper look around the healing ward. Five soft, white beds were neatly made up, along with her own. They all had white satin sheets and fluffy white pillows, and each had a small table beside it. In between the beds were shelves of different medicines and herbs, with incense candles burning quietly, giving off a wonderful smell. There was a closed door directly opposite the entrance through which she guessed Isis's storeroom and office were. She lay back down and the bed. Isis. For some reason, she felt a very deep trust for her, one that shouldn't be there when they had only just met. And her...family, she supposed she should call them now; they seemed familiar, and she felt like she knew them. But she didn't trust them, not to the extent she trusted Isis. Sakhmet ground her teeth. The Princess of Thieves trusted no-one, let alone someone who was one of the Pharaoh's most trusted friends who she hardly knew. Ra, this was complicated. Her old life was clashing with her new life, and if she couldn't find a balance, her world would come crashing down around more than it had already.

********

Yami, Yugi, Atemu and Heba walked down the maze of lavishly decorated corridors towards the healing ward after breakfast. Marik and Jou were late sleepers, so Malik and Seth stayed with them in bed. They eventually opened the gilded wood doors to the healing ward to see Sakhmet staring at the ceiling.

"Before you ask, I'm fine." The ever-aware princess told them, not even bothering to look at them.

"Father is holding Amun's trial today. You need to be there."

"Sure, but...err..."

"Good morning Atemu, Yami, Yugi and Heba. Sakhmet, I've got you some soup. Eat it then go to the throne room." Isis had come back.

"Thank you, Isis. However, there is one slight problem." Sakhmet said as she started eating the soup.

"What is it?"

"Err...How am I supposed to act?"

"Ah." Isis turned to Atemu and Yami, hoping they could give a good answer.

"You just have to sit on a throne, we'll show you, and that's it."

"Okay." She finished her soup, and swung her legs over the side of the bed. "Let's go."

The boys looked at each other as Isis walked to her office.

"There is one slight problem." Sakhmet raised her eyebrows. "Jou and Marik are still sleeping." A smirk made it's way onto Sakhmet's face.

"We'll see." She stalked out, practically running through the corridors until she came to Jou and Seth's room. Yanking open the door she didn't pause to look at the huge room; instead making her way to the en-suite bathroom where she filled a small cup full of water. She returned to the bedroom part just as Atemu, Yami, Yugi and Heba reached the doorway.

"Seth, if you don't want to get wet, I suggest you move." Seth got off the bed.

"You're going to pour water over him." It was a statement rather than a question.

"Yes." Seth's icy blue eyes lit up.

"Can I do it?" He reached out his hand as he did so.

"Sure." Sakhmet handed him the cup then went to Malik and Marik's room. Seth chucked the water over Jou, who immediately sat up.

"Seth!"

"Sorry, puppy, but you weren't getting up. Besides, you look cute when wet." Jou blushed and Heba coughed from the doorway.

"We have to go now."

"But-"

"No Jou, you'll have to wait until afterwards for breakfast." Seth told him, already knowing what his question was.

"But-"

"SAKHMET!" This time Jou was cut off by a dual-voiced shout from Malik and Marik's room, followed by the reappearance of Sakhmet grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Doing her best impression of an innocent face, hampered only by the fact she couldn't control her giggles. The answer to why she was laughing came in the form of two wet, angry blondes. At this sight everyone else started laughing as well, even Jou.

"Grr...I'm going to kill you Sakhmet." Marik growled at her, furious.

"You can try." Sakhmet replied in a challenging voice. Anyone who knew Marik knew that he was about to explode with rage.

"Come on. We have to go." Yami quickly steered Yugi and himself out of harms way. Everyone else quickly followed, with Marik glaring at Sakhmet who flashed him grins.

"Marik, calm down." Malik whispered to him.

"Why should I?" Marik growled back under his breath.

"I'll reward you for it later." Marik's eyes lit up at that point.

"Mmm...I will..." Marik stared into space, drooling slightly. Malik sighed at his expression. He had a long night ahead of him.

********

"Bring the accused in here." Aknankanon commanded. A few odd looks had been thrown at the three wet blondes when they arrived, but all who had made them were quickly met with glares. Aknankanon and Amara had wondered for a while what was going on, but then decided it was best if they didn't know. Marik and another guard dragged Amun in. Marik and Malik really went overboard this time, most people thought. No-one had ever looked so...defeated. So beaten and weakened. Malik was shocked, he didn't remember doing this much damage to Amun. Marik too was shocked, but he shook it off as it being dark in that cell, so they probably hadn't noticed how much damage they had done. He knew he was lying to himself; the light had been perfectly good, and this had never happened before, but he couldn't think of any other explanation, unless...no, no-one could have snuck in, and anyway, who would want to torture this guy? Surely, only a person against the Pharaoh would have to sneak in, but why would such a person do something for the Pharaoh? All this thinking hurt Marik's head, so he stopped. It wasn't his job to think, after all. When they reached the bottom of the steps leading up to the thrones, Amun fell to his knees on his own, not needed to be pushed down like most criminals.

"Amun of Nyre, you entered this palace by force, and attempted to kill my sons and my daughter. How do you explain yourself?"

"I am guilty, my Pharaoh. I was wrong to do what I did, but nothing can excuse me for my crimes." Aknankanon raised his eyebrows; this was not what people who had tried to kill someone did the next day. Then again, from the state Amun was in, it was clear why he was so defeated.

"You are sentenced to death. Take him away until his execution." As Amun was grabbed by Marik and another guard, he looked up at Sakhmet. Had anyone been looking they might have seen the princess give the tiniest of nods and a small smirk before Amun lowered his head again.

Now that the trial was over, Sakhmet leaned back and looked around. The throne room was more like a hall, with large double doors at the far end, and a balcony running along the two side walls, with a set of golden steps leading up to the five thrones, one of which she was sat on. The thrones were covered in gold, with engravings of various gods and goddesses on them; and they had high backs with velvet padding and at the top of the backs were some sort of ornately carved pattern with the Eye of Horus in the centre. The walls held beautiful tapestries showing different scenes from Egyptian legend. Guards and priests stood near the walls, almost forming a human corridor up to the thrones. The Lords(Yugi, Heba, Jou and Malik) stood off to one side of the thrones.

Now Sakhmet turned her gaze towards the Pharaoh, watching how he conducted everyday business, and how he dealt with each person who approached him fairly and kindly. At this she narrowed her eyes. Surely, this man wasn't the same man who had ordered monstrosities against his people? But he was, she knew that, and these acts of kindness didn't fool her. Yet she still wondered; why?

_Oooo, cliffy!! You won't get the answers for awhile, but if anyone wants to guess, that's fine by me!! Review please!! Reviews make me happy, and if I'm happy I update more!! R&R!!_


	5. Trust

_I haven't updated for a while, but I'm back!! And if you are wondering why Sakhmet trusts Isis, the answer is in this chapter. Let's just say that while she can't actually remember anything, she sub-consciously remembers them._

After the court session Yugi took Sakhmet to see Anzu the seamstress, as she only had one set of clothes with her, and they, `were not appropriate for a princess.' Sakhmet had almost laughed at that comment, but tried to control herself; no point in giving away anything like that. As they made their way down the long, gallery-like hall, the princess thought about the way she felt about the palace and the people, especially her brothers. They seemed so familiar, and she could feel an instant bond with them**, **felt so comfortable around them; not that she was a shy person. Yet it seemed as though every time she tried to find something; a memory, a reason as to why she felt this, it escaped her, as though it was running away from her, or was in a place she couldn't get into. At this thought she growled in frustration, bringing a curious look from Yugi. She was the Princess of Thieves! There was no place she couldn't get into; nothing could be hidden from her. She would find the reason, even if it killed her!

Just as Sakhmet's rather angry thoughts passed through her head, they reached their destination. A small room with an old, comfy looking sofa and a few chairs. The entire room was in deep red, with the sofa being a slightly paler shade. There were several racks of clothing; from slave's outfits to rich ladies dressed to posh cloaks, it was all there. There were even various shoes; boots, sandals, even riding shoes. In the midst of all this chaos, a pretty young woman sat. She had brown hair and a simple blue dress on that matched the colour of her eyes. She had a piece of black cloth in her hand and was sewing something onto it, but looked up when Yugi knocked on the already open door.

"Oh, hello Yugi. Come in." She beckoned the two in, and then put down the cloth. "Now, what can I do for you?"

"Anzu, Sakhmet needs some other clothes, please."

"Okay then. Sakhmet, come here so I can measure you. Yugi, you can leave us now." Most would not have dared to say that even Lord Yugi, who was the nicest of all of them, but Anzu had grown up with them, so she still treated them as her friends rather than as Lords. Yugi was still slightly confused as to why he had to go, but figured that Sakhmet was a girl, and so needed her...chest measured, and that Anzu was giving him a chance to go back to his brother and friends.

The moment Yugi had gone from the room, Sakhmet collapsed onto the sofa beside Anzu, who giggled at her.

"So, how was the trial?"

"Boring." Sakhmet suddenly looked at Anzu, a look of horror on her face. "Please don't tell me that thing happens every day?"

"Unfortunately, the court session happens every day except on special occasions." The princess groaned in a very un-princess-like fashion.

"Well, I'd better hope that special occasions happen every other day, other-wise I'm going to be bored out of my mind." Anzu giggled at this.

"Don't worry. You'll survive. Besides, there are plenty of other things to do." Anzu told her. "Now, we need to think of what sort of clothes you need."

"I am _not_ wearing a skirt or a dress."

"Unfortunately, most of your outfits will be skirts and dresses." The princess just looked at her. "How about I sew skirts on top of trousers, so that it looks like you are wearing skirts, when you are actually wearing trousers." Sakhmet thought about this for a second, and then nodded her head. It was better than nothing. "Of course," Anzu continued, "you'll have to have real skirts as well." Sakhmet scowled and narrowed her eyes, but smiled slightly at the same time, making Anzu laugh. "Don't worry, Sakhmet. You'll be fine." Anzu thought of a way to get the princess's sprits high. "Also, you will need something to do magic and battle training in; although after seeing what you did yesterday, I don't think you really need it." Sakhmet smiled.

"Thanks, Anzu." She thought about something, and frowned. "Anzu, tell me, were you and I...friends before...well, you know?" Anzu nodded in understanding.

"Yes, we were. You, me, and Isis. The three girls. We told each other everything." Anzu leaned back, reminiscing about the past.

"Anzu, can I trust you again?"

"Of course." Anzu was slightly confused by that. Did Sakhmet want to tell her something?

"If I told you something, would you promise not to tell anyone else?"

"Yes." Sakhmet sighed.

"What do you think of the Princess of Thieves?"

"Truthfully? I think that she would probably do anything to get what she wants, and I admire her for that. I also think she probably has a very good reason."

"A reason for what?"

"For wanting to kill the Pharaoh. For stealing, for being what she is." Sakhmet bowed her head and closed her eyes.

"Thank you, Anzu. You are the first person I have met who actually believes that I have a reason." Anzu's eyes went wide.

"...You're the..."

"Princess of thieves, yes. And I do have a reason."

"Could you tell me what it is?"

"I'm sorry, Anzu." The tri-haired princess sounded genuinely sorry. "It's not that I don't trust you." She said, giving Anzu a smile and answering her unasked question. "It's me. I'm not ready to tell anyone yet." The seamstress nodded her head in understanding.

"It's okay. I understand. And when you feel ready, me and Isis will be right here." That made her realize something. "Does Isis-"

"Yes, Isis knows. And Anzu?" She said, looking at the girl.

"Yes?"

"Thanks." With that, Sakhmet left the room full of cloth. She popped her head round the door five seconds later. "Err...you couldn't tell me the way to the lounge, could you?" Anzu just giggled.

*********

"What do you think happened?"

"Huh?" This question from Malik was completely out of the blue.

"What do you mean, kitten?" Malik scowled at the nickname.

"First, don't call me kitten, Marik; second, didn't any of you notice what she was doing in the throne room?" The stunned faces gave him all the answer he needed. "I'll take that as a no. When Amun was sentenced, I swear she nodded. Then, she watched the Pharaoh all throughout the rest of the court session, almost as if she was judging him. Why would she do that?"

"Maybe she just wanted to see how he did things. After all, she lived as a commoner, so she had probably heard rumours, and wanted to see what really happens in court." Yugi reasoned.

"Then why nod?" This time Yami replied to Malik.

"Perhaps she just approved, or it was a trick of the light. If you're still unsure, you can always ask her when she gets here."

"Hmm...I guess...it still seems odd..."

"Don't worry about it, Malik-pretty."Malik scowled at Marik.

"I told you not to call me that, either!" The others in the room just laughed while Marik pouted.

"Then what can I call you?"

"Hmm...how about...Malik?"

"But I want a cute name to call you!"

"You only think up embarrassing names!"

"I hope I'm not interrupting something." They turned to see Sakhmet at the door, a smirk on her face.

"It's only one of Malik and Marik's arguments." Atemu told her.

"They have almost as much arguments as Seth and Jou."

"Hey we don't have that many arguments!"

"We do puppy, and you start most of them."

"I do not!"

"Yes you do."

"No I don't."

"Do."

"Don't!"

"Do!"

"Don't!" Everyone else sighed. Sakhmet looked at them curiously. She wondered how anyone could stay together when they argued over the smallest of things. It was quite funny, at least to begin with. However, they were started to give her a headache.

Seth and Jou broke apart when a dagger flew straight through the small gap in between them and attached itself to the wall behind. They slowly turned to look at Sakhmet who had a smirk on her face.

"I was getting a headache."

_Don't you just love her excuse? Yes, all the girls were friends, and Sakhmet knows she can trust them, even if she only just met them. Please review, I need to know if you like this or not!! R&R!!_


	6. Magic

_Sorry for taking so long. This chapter shows quite a lot about Sakhmet, and we get to know an important character at the end. Most of you probably know who it is anyway. Please try to read the large amounts of text. I just couldn't think of any dialogue to put in. Enjoy!!_

* * *

Sakhmet sat in her room. It was very pretty, with red and white walls and beautiful furniture, along with a huge bed. It was nice, but she missed her simple life before; travelling around, finding some cave to spend the night in, and occasionally going to the main hideout. One thing was the same, though. People still addressed her as Princess. She had three titles; Princess of Thieves (the King of Thieves had told this to a victim of their robbery, and he had heard her voice, so naturally had been told that was the Princess), Princess of Egypt (obviously), and The Silhouette Princess.

The last came from when a servant had caught sight of her in a window just before she jumped out. Since then, she and the King of Thieves had two very distinctive descriptions. The King had shocking white hair, red/brown eyes and a scar beneath his left eye. The Princess of Thieves had midnight black hair that according to the one person to see the back of her was dipped in the blood of her victims. No-one had seen her face, but knew that she wore all black, in a contrast to the King who wore white; and both often wore red cloaks with golden edging. Yes, they were almost legendary, and lots praised them, offered them shelter, food, money. They always declined, preferring to find their own, to _earn_ what they got. That was their motto, if you like: _Everything must be earned. _The King of Thieves had told the person who had seen him this, so everyone knew it.

************

Lessons. Only one word could describe them in Sakhmet's opinion. Boring. And hard, but mostly boring. They hadn't even started yet, but she could just tell what they were going to be like. They were sat in what appeared to the library. Or maybe it was a classroom. Whatever it was, it had a lot of books, maps, quills, and various other things one might expect in a place like that. The boys were talking, although about what she had no idea; she wasn't paying any attention. Just as she was about to get up and ask the world in general what was going on, Mahado, the palace magician, walked in. Everyone immediately settled down and faced Mahado.

"Now, I have some texts here, I want you to translate them into Greek first, and when you have done that I have some Greek texts to be translated into Egyptian." The group collectively groaned. "I know it's boring," Mahado said with a smile, "but it has to be done." He gave each person a sheet of papyrus with neat hieroglyphs on it. Each pupil picked up their reed brush and started to write, although they paused every so often when they couldn't translate it. Seth, of course, whizzed through the translation. They had been doing this type of thing for years, after all. Mahado wandered through the desks and sighed. _He _thought that these lessons were boring, so Ra knows what his pupils thought of them. His eyes wandered to Malik's papyrus. It had doodles all over it, and a small amount of badly written text. Malik could do this sort of thing very well, however he often couldn't be bothered. Jou's had a few words, but he seemed to have given up and was currently snoozing with his head on his desk and his check covered in ink. Marik's...well, it was definitely a good translation but...he wasn't sure if it needed the various torture methods drawn crudely on the side. Then he looked at Sakhmet's.

His eyes widened. She wasn't using ink. She appeared to have cut the tip of her finger, and was now letting the blood run down to the tip where several letters of what definitely _wasn't _Greek. He stopped in front of her desk. "Sakhmet..." She looked at him. "That isn't Greek." He pointed to her bloody letters. The princess smirked.

"Of course it isn't. I can't write or read Greek. For that matter, I can't even read or write in any form of Egyptian. So telling me to translate one from the other is like telling me to make my eyes blue. _I can't do it."_ He frowned. By now, everyone else was looking at them. He frowned.

"Then what language have you written?" Her smirk grew wider.

"Let me ask you a question, can you read it?"

"Well no, but-"

"Exactly. You can't read my language, and I can't read yours. Goodbye." She then stood up-leaving her quill on the desk-and walked out to the door. "I'll come back when I remember how to write." She smirked at all the others who were still sat at their desks, and strode out.

"Hem hem." Mahado cleared his throat to gain their attention. He raised an eyebrow and, getting the hint; they groaned and went back to the translation.

************

If anyone had being wondering the corridors at that time, they might have noticed an ever-so-slight shimmering in the air. The princess's magic allowed her to manipulate light, so she could bend it round herself, making her completely invisible. This was perfect for stealing and snooping around. Also, this was one form of magic she could use without facing the consequences that night. She paused by an open doorway, intrigued by the conversation she heard within the room.

"Shouldn't Sakhmet be coming?" This was undoubtedly Yugi's voice.

"No, she shouldn't come yet. I'll give her private lessons; after all, she missed out on ten years of training."

"Okay."

"Now, when I say now I want you to concentrate your powers. Everybody ready? Now!" She recognised the voice as being Mahado's. With a grin, she worked out what they were doing. Magic. Huh. Saying she wasn't allowed to do something was an open invitation for her to break the rules. Of course, they hadn't realised she was there, but still. That just meant it was probably dangerous. This just made her want to go in even more. Yes, the Princess was an adrenaline junkie, although of course she wouldn't have said that. She was the type of person who loved near-death situations, and would get in a fight for fun. The same with the King of Thieves, although he tended to be slightly more careful, and often had several back-up plans which he could make up almost on the spot.

But anyway, she was getting distracted. She carefully opened the door (how else?), and peeked through. She let out an inaudible gasp. The boys (they were all younger than her, so what else would she call them?), were all standing on the points of an eight-pointed star. They all had their eyes closed, and from their bodies came various colours; magic. Atemu was red, Yami green, Heba blue, Yugi yellow, Seth gold, Jou silver, Malik lilac and Marik violet. The colours mixed in the middle, where they weaved together and then spilled out around the rest of the circle which they formed. Mahado paced around the outside, giving out instructions every now and then. Sakhmet was transfixed. She was mesmerized by the colours which created complicated and beautiful patterns in front of her. Her eyes went almost white, and became blank, the only colours being reflections of the magic before her.

To the rest of the world the events that occurred next were very surprising. Sakhmet opened the door fully, paused for a moment, then walked straight towards the magic, not paying any attention towards the various shouts of people around her as they noticed. One look in her eyes and you would see that they were now white, as if she couldn't see anything. As she reached the edge of the magic, she paused, and then, slowly, stretched her hand towards the magic. Once her hand was fully inside the magic so it was half hidden from view, the princess did something very strange. She giggled. Then she stepped fully into the whirling kaleidoscope of colours, the magic appearing to accept her and welcome her, bending around and dancing in front of her eyes which were open wide with a child-like wonder. She carried on walking to the centre, a place where her brothers were afraid to follow, and couldn't follow, even as they shouted her name over and over. They had long stopped letting their magic run wild, and had stepped out of the circle, but they daren't go in.

Sakhmet played with the colours for a while, then started to spin around with her arms outstretched, twirling with her eyes closed with a smile like a five-year-olds. The magic started to swirl round her, becoming a whirling hurricane centred around the princess. Then she stopped, but the magic carried on, now flowing in a spiral, pouring into her, filling her very being with pure, wild magic. Once it was all inside and her skin was giving off a soft white glow, she opened her eyes, which still couldn't see anything. She smiled at the rest who were staring at her with their eyes and mouths wide open. Then she turned around, and leapt out of the window. They ran after her, for there was no doubt that she had jumped down this time. They watched as she hurtled down towards the ground, heard her laughter, and then gasped as white wings spread from her back as she flew off.

A white figure stood by an oasis. He wore traditional white Egyptian clothing, and had white, choppy hair which came almost to his shoulders. He was waiting for something. A single tear could be seen very faintly, yet he didn't brush it away, like he normally did. It had been a week. He had almost lost hope. Then he heard a faint stirring of the air behind him. He whipped round, and took in the figure before him. White wings, blank white eyes, and tri-coloured eyes. He gave a faint smile, and then wrapped the other in his arms and shadows, dispelling the magic aura around her. He watched her eyes as they gained that gorgeous crimson colour, heard her gasp as she realised where she was, and heard her whisper his name in a faint voice.

"Bakura..."

_Enjoy__? __It's Bakura!! Or to be more precise, Thief King Bakura from the MW arc, hence the choppy hair style rather than the demon horns...Anyway, if the last part seems quite detached, it's meant to, as you will see in the next chapter. That's all I will say for now. R&R please!!_


	7. Memories

_In this, __**Bold**__ will be outside Sakhmet's memories, normal will be the memories. Got it? Okay, on with the chapter..._

**When Sakhmet looked into the magic, the world appeared to tilt, and she found herself falling into a white, blank void...**

A five-year-old girl was playing with some younger children, her tri-coloured hair falling down her back and a golden circlet on her head, a sand coloured dress with crimson, purple and gold stitching around all the hems.. She was playing with eight other boys, all of whom were younger than her, and she seemed to be the mother figure of the group, and they all called her sister, even though she was only a sister to two of them. One of the youngest in the group was pushed a little by another, and began crying.

"Sister!" Immediately the young princess rushed to the young boy.

"Malik! Don't push others like that! Or you will face the consequences of your actions one day if you don't learn! Would you like to have your heart eaten by Amut?" The said three-year-old blond who had pushed the little boy over bowed his head in shame.

"Sorry, Sakhmet." She raised her eyebrows. He sighed. "Sorry for pushing you over, Yugi. I won't do it again." Sakhmet nodded, and then turned her attention to Yugi, who was still crying. She gently raised his arm, and looked at the tiny scratch there. For the two-year-old, it probably hurt a lot.

"Here." She said, smiling, as she waved her hand over it and said the one spell she knew. The scratch healed completely, and she added a little kiss for effect. "There. All better." Yugi smiled happily and threw his arms around her.

"Thank you, big sister."

"No problem, little bro." Yugi wasn't her real brother, even though he could certainly pass for it, yet to her they were all her brother whom she had to protect. Yugi then ran off to join in the others game, where Jou and Seth were now arguing over something. Sakhmet smiled, shook her head, then joined them to try and break up the fight.

**That memory faded, but another came up to Sakhmet's vision...**

An eight-year-old Sakhmet was looking round some desks where her brothers worked, although not very quietly. She wore a deep violet skirt with a light cotton white dress-top. Mahado had just left them to their own devices while she made sure they were doing their work. She went to Seth's. The seven-year-old was doing very well; she could tell that he would be a very good High Priest when he was older, for that was what he wanted to become. She turned to Jou's, who hadn't done anything.

"Sisterrrr! I need help!" Jou whined, pouting. Sakhmet raised her eyebrows.

"What type of help?"

"As in, please magic the answers so that Mahado doesn't tell me off again." He pouted again.

"Oh, alright, just this once." She cast a quick look around, and then muttered a spell. Jou's reed brush began to move across the papyrus in rather messy strokes, but there was quite a bit done that was legible when Sakhmet cancelled the spell.

"Oh, why did you stop?"

"Because otherwise you would be further than Seto, which is highly unlikely and not very believable."

**Again the memory faded, replaced with yet another one...**

Anine-year-old Sakhmet sat on her crimson bed, completely still with her eyes closed. Sakhmet was wearing a traditional beige dress that was very simple with a high neckline, some gold embroidery around the neck, wrists and at the hem of the dress, and a gold sash around her waist.

**Meditating, the word came to the older Sakhmet's mind.**

Then, the younger's eyes opened and, smiling; she held out her hand and whispered one word.

"Pori." A small flame appeared in her hand. The girl smiled at it for a while. Then she closed her hand into a fist and turned it upside down, quenching the flame. She then got off the bed, wrote something down quickly, then climbed back onto the bed and began to meditate again.

**While she was doing this, the older Sakhmet wondered over to the piece of papyrus to see what she had written, and, to her surprise, she found that she could read what it said. It read "Fire test successful." Short, but her sudden ability to read came as a shock to Sakhmet. She looked inside herself to see if she could find how to write, and to her surprise basically found instructions on how to read and write both types of Egyptian, Greek and Hebrew. When she opened her eyes she was still in the vision...**

The young Sakhmet had finished her testing, and had just written down the results on her papyrus. She lifted her brush up and stared at the wall, allowing ink to drip onto the desk. She sighed.

"I wish I had my shadow..."

**The vision faded. Now a ten-year-old girl lay asleep on the bed from the last memory. Sakhmet winced as she knew what was going to happen.**

A man climbed in through the window, looked once around the room, then crept over to the girl. He shook her shoulder until her eyes opened. He then wrapped a cloth quickly around her mouth, causing her to breathe in the fumes.

"Sleep, my pretty..." Young Sakhmet fell unconscious again.

**The memory shimmered out of view to be replaced with white everywhere. Then, Sakhmet noticed a black patch. She raced towards it, and leapt into consciousness. She looked up into russet eyes she knew so well, and whispered the name of her love.**

**"Bakura..."**

_Very short, I know, but it was a quick update (for me anyway), and the next chapter will have lots more Bakura, I promise!! Please review!!!(Holds out Ryou and Yugi doing the irresistible puppy eyes). Please...you know you want to._


	8. Bakura

_Yay!!! It's my longest chapter so far!! You know. I just realised that although chapters look really long on word, they don't on !! Here it is though!! Finally, we see Bakura!!!!_

The King of Thieves sat through Sakhmet's explanation just by staring at her. When she finished she asked him;

"So, what do you think?"

"I think," he said, leaning closer to her, "that you are thinking and talking too much." he kissed her on her lips, and both moaned into the kiss.

"You know what?" Sakhmet said when they broke for air. "I think your right." And she closed the gap for another kiss.

**************

A while later the two just sat in a comfortable silence, brooding. Then Bakura turned his head to her.

"You used wild magic." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yeah." She almost cringed at the look he gave her. The two didn't really need to communicate by words; they practically knew what the other was thinking. She knew that he knew about what happened when she used wild magic, just as she knew what happened to him. The same thing. Except there was a side to the rebound effect that they never talked about. Flashbacks of their past came back, memories that they would otherwise try to forget about.

"Don't do that again." He told her after a while. Even though the words sounded harsh and cold, Sakhmet knew that he only said them because he cared in some way. She leaned in so that their foreheads were touching. Then Bakura smirked. "Fancy doing something fun?" He asked. She was about to open her mouth to reply that he was being a pervert, when he pulled two red cloaks basically out of nowhere.

"Oh." He chuckled at her facial expression, then passed her her cloak and put his own on.

His was more of a coat than a cloak, having long sleeves and no hood, as well as being open. Hers had no sleeves, and had a hood (think Little Red Riding Hood), and both had the same gold embroidery on the edges. She pulled her hood on and smirked at him.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

**************

"Where has she gone?" Yugi asked after a while.

"I...I think that she'll be back by morning." Mahado asked, for once feeling slightly unsure of himself. The he straightened himself up. "Yes, she'll be back by morning. We shouldn't worry. She can look after herself, and the magic will wear out at some point. Don't worry. For now I suggest going to bed, Ra has long since set." He sent them all to bed, then turned to the window and sighed. "I don't think they can handle losing you again, Princess." He whispered to the world, and then he himself went to bed.

************

Yami rolled over and shook Yugi awake.

"Wake up, Little One." He smiled as his angel opened his eyes blearily. "Welcome to the land of the living, love."

"Good morning to you too, Yami."

They all met up in the breakfast room, Jou dragging Seth in and sitting there drooling in anticipation of food.

"Puppy, stop drooling, you're ruining my appetite." Jou was about to respond when he food came in, and he busied himself with helping himself to a very large breakfast before shovelling it into his mouth, therefore ridding himself of the ability to talk. That didn't stop him trying though.

"Bwo, shud ud, Set!"(Oh, shut up, Seth!) His very original response was coupled with him spraying large chunks of food over Seth.

A chuckling sound came from the window. They all whipped round, only to find no-one there. It was then they noticed the absence of a certain female.

"Where's Sakhmet? Is she not back yet?" Atemu looked around at every person sat at the table, not surprised when everyone shrugged or shook their head. Apart from Jou, that is, who was too busy eating food.

"Maybe she just stayed in bed." At this, Marik's eyes widened and an evil smirk crossed his face.

"Excellent. Time for revenge!" And with that he dragged Malik off to go and pour water over Sakhmet to wake her up. Yami and Atemu looked at each other and sighed with exasperation, then followed their deranged friend. In this fashion they all ended up on the trip to Sakhmet's room. When they got there Marik opened the door, only to find no-one there.

"Maybe she's with Anzu, or Isis." They were clutching at straws now, but they had to hope she was back. They walked around, trying to find one of the said females, when a guard ran up to them and bowed.

"My Princes, High Priest, Captain Marik, there have been reports of another robbery by the King and Princess of Thieves. Please come to the throne room immediately." They all shared a collective glance at each other, and then hurried to the throne room.

**********

Two red cloaks billowed behind two figures running away, laughing.

_Flashback_

The two figures watched the mansion for a while, snooping around the back with practised ease until they found the servants entrance. The white-haired one whispered something to his hooded friend, before both figures disappeared from sight. Literally. If one looked closely enough, one might be able to see something flit in the shadows on the right, or perhaps a shimmer in the air on the left. Before one could discern the shape, however, one would be unconscious and would never remember what had just happened.

The king and princess were very good at what they did, but while they entered with magic, they liked to do the actual stealing and getting away in plain sight. It felt much more exhilarating and fun that way. The hooded one-the princess-hurried along the corridor, swiftly and silently towards her prey. The white-haired one-the king-walked at a much more leisurely pace, head turning this way and that, observing the place for escape routes, as well as the intricately carved hieroglyphs on the walls which he could never hope to understand.

Well, now it didn't seem too out of reach. He paused to trace his fingers over the hieroglyphs. Sakhmet could read them now. She had told him everything, including her recent memories. Her real family was alive, it just so happened that they were the people who they wanted revenge on the most. Maybe...no, they would never be able to overcome the differences. He had always wanted a family, something to call his own, almost as a restart to Kul Elna. He chuckled darkly. Many would never think of him as a family man. Revenge came first of course but after that...

His thoughts drifted back to Kul Elna. The place where everyone had died. The place that started everything off. Both he and Sakhmet had somehow sworn never to fall in love with another, as people can get to you through them, giving you a crucial weakness. Then they fell for each other. No weaknesses and a much stronger bond than before.

Bakura sighed. He didn't remember falling in love with Sakhmet, it just sort of happened. First she was his adopted sister and trainee. He had taught her almost everything, and to his surprise she had been a very quick learner. Perhaps this was because the new information replaced old lost information of her life before.

She had this amazing ability of being able to create and manipulate light, as well as making herself invisible by "hiding from the light" as she called it. That he would never understand. He had soon found that he now had his own ability, that of being able to create and manipulate the shadows, the opposite of Sakhmet's. He even called himself he shadow on occasions. But anyway, back to the matter at hand.

Sakhmet found a woman's room, definitely a good place to start, and judging by the size it probably belonged to a vey high-ranking lady. She smirked on the threshold. Perfect. Flitting in on silent feet, she found a chest which appeared to be full of rags. There were no obvious riches worth stealing, but hiding jewels in a chest which contained rags was a common trick. Her hands paused over the chest for a second, savouring the feeling of what she was about to do, a joyful expression on her face, one that was always there when she stole. It was a part of her life, yet was the most fun thing she had ever done.

A small scrabble into the chest proved successful, and she filled her pockets and hands with the jewels before closing the lid. She then took out a knife and carved a key crossed with a dagger on the top before sweeping out of the room to join Bakura.

Bakura joined with Sakhmet, and the two continued on until as they had done five rooms. Then a call went up, every guard now searching for the King and Princess of Thieves. The two were hiding around a corner somewhere in the centre of the house, waiting until the perfect moment came to run.

"Tie...Sur....Di!" Bakura whispered to Sakhmet, and on the last word they almost flew out of their hiding place, laughing as shouts came up behind them.

_End Flashback_

"That was the most fun I've had since we robbed that idiot's mansion, you know the one."

"Which one, all posh people are idiots."

"You're right. Except for me, of course."

"Hmm...You seem like-" Bakura was cut off by a blow to the side, and turned to a laughing Sakhmet.

"H...Hey!!" She giggled. He smirked at her. As they now walked around across a stretch of deserted desert, Sakhmet threw her hood back, and they carried on walking as she put her head on his shoulder. Then he said,

"How about we pay your family a visit?" His face twisted into a smirk, and an identical one appeared on hers.

"Yes." Then she turned her head and they both let out shrill whistles.

Two black horses ran to their master and mistress, standing there as the humans vaulted on. One small nudge to the sides and the horses galloped flat out, the red cloaks of their master and mistress flowing behind.

***********

Inside the palace, they sat down at the table, completely silent, all absorbed in their thoughts. Where could she be? Then they heard the chuckling sound again. They whipped round to the window, to see a two figures standing in the window. One was male, with white hair and a scar running down his right cheek, wearing white clothes with a red cloak-like coat. The second's face was hidden in shadow except for the mouth, and wore black clothes and appeared to be female. Both had their arms folded. There was no question that they were.

The King and Princess of Thieves!

_**Poll alert!!**__ Yes, there is a poll in which you basically say what happens next!! Please please please vote, otherwise I shall have to do this story in one way, and I want to write them all!!! I'll let you decide!!! _

_Also, before you flame/kill me about Bakura's character, let me explain why he is like that._

_In the anime, Bakura was driven essentially mad by Zork and the spirits, in this, he isn't with Zork and Sakhmet kept him away from the spirits._

_He has someone who actually understands what he has been through and he can talk about it with her, just like she can with him. Thus, neither went completely mad._

_He wants to start Kul Elna again (in a way), because he can, but only after he has had his revenge._

_Lastly, have you ever tries to make a mad, bad guy a good guy? It's impossible without changing him slightly._

_If you think of anything else that seems strange, tell me and I'll either give you my reasoning or change it. Review and vote please!!_


	9. Revalations

_Yes! It's finally out!! Thanks to Evil BlackRose Of Doom for the support!! This is my longest chapter yet!! Don't forget to read Rules of Magic, which explains quite a bit about all the magic used n this story!! Now, on with said story..._

START

As the two thieves stood in the window, the royals stood in utter shock and horror.

"Why the hell are you_ murderers_ here?" Marik snarled.

"Isn't it obvious, Captain?" The title was spoken with so much mockery and sarcasm by Bakura that it was a miracle you could actually hear the word. "We're scouting the place out." He spoke with a sneer. "Seeing how easy your guards are to get past, and where all the best treasure is. Of course, we might take a little right now, as a sort of warm up."

"You'll do no such thing!" Marik shouted angrily, his face a snarl, drawing his sword. The rest of the royals followed suit, each ready to take on the two thieves. The Princess, who so far had been silent, suddenly leapt at them, drawing a sword from the folds of her blood-red clock. As her sword clashed with Marik's, Bakura also leapt from the window sill, and a fight broke out.

Marik, Yami and Jou were fighting the Princess, while Malik, Atemu and Seth fought the King. Going through the motions of well practiced fight, Marik noticed something. He and Sakhmet had had several fighting sessions, so he had gotten to know her fighting technique pretty well. It generally involved tricking her opponent and using her smaller size and stature to avoid attacks and use her agility to her advantage. The Princess of Thieves used much the same techniques, which would have made him very suspicious, had he not just dragged his mind back to reality having nearly had his head chopped off.

For no apparent reason, the two thieves suddenly stopped the fight and went back to the window.

"He he. Now we know how easy you people are to overpower, we'll take our leave. But don't worry; we'll be back, sooner than you think." Bakura told them. The two then vanished.

"What the hell was that all about?"

BREAK

They were resuming the search for the Princess, when Marik pulled Seth aside.

"I just want to talk to dragon-fetish-boy here. It's important." Marik told the others, who nodded and got back on with the search. Seth growled at the nick-name.

"Mind telling me what this is all about, crocodile-head."(A reference to Marik's hair, since I don't think they had pineapples, which would be a much better description). They were now stood in a small room that looked like a study of some kind.

"You know we had some suspicions about Sakhmet?"

"No, we didn't, not really anyway. Why?" The brunet priest told Marik.

"Because I think that she is the Princess of Thieves." Blunt and to the point, yep that was Marik alright.

"Okay and what is your reasoning behind this accusation? You can't just go and accuse someone without any evidence; you of all people ought to know that."

"In chronological order, first was the time that Amun guy called her Princess, and she called him a pathetic excuse for a thief. As if she _knew_."

"She is a princess, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out that he was a thief. You'll have to do better than that." As always, Seth was able to come up with arguments on the spot. That was one reason why he and Jou seemed to argue; they were both very spontaneous.

"I'm not finished. Then it was when Amun was brought in he was more roughed up than usual. I didn't mention it at the time, but it does seem suspicious."

"I thought you and Malik did that." Seth looked at him, his brows furrowed in confusion. Marik shook his head.

"No, it may have been dark, but I know we didn't do that much damage. Which means someone else must have done it."

"And you think she did? You're going to need a lot more than that, Marik. After all, you can't prove it."

"I still haven't finished. My best and last is that their fighting styles are identical. I only noticed it when I was fighting but they fight the same."

"They are both female and rather small, that means that they will of course have similar fighting styles."

"Think about it Seth, why would any ordinary peasant girl learn how to fight, it just doesn't add up. I have a feeling that we're missing something big, I just don't know what it is." Seth turned away.

"I'll believe you when you can give some real evidence. Until then, you can keep on making stories up when you get bored." Marik narrowed his eyes at Seth's back. He would get to the bottom of this, no matter what.

BREAK

"Should I tell them?" Sakhmet sat on the edge of the roof, her legs dangling over the edge with Bakura beside her.

"Personally, I don't care. I just want revenge for the deaths of my family."

"So do I. But now that I remember...I don't know what to do. In one hand, there is my real family, who I grew with, and on the other, is our family, who I want revenge for their deaths, which my real family happen to be responsible for."

"They must pay. Murdering innocent people is a crime, no matter who you are."

"Yes. I will get revenge on them. I guess I'll just have to wait and see."

"You do that. I'll give you as much time as you need to get over it."

"Thanks. In the mean time, I'd better go down." She gave him a goodbye kiss on the lips before climbing down the wall to one of the windows, Bakura watching her all the time, before he turned his gaze to the night sky, a thoughtful look on his face.

BREAK

The rest of them split up to continue the search around the palace, hoping that she might just have woken up early and gotten lost. Yugi agreed to search their private living room. He creaking the heavy door open, only to see Sakhmet sitting there staring at what appeared to be a Senet board. She looked up when he came in.

"Oh, hello Yugi. I was wondering, what is this?" She gestured to the board. "I have deduced that it's a board game, but I can't remember anything else." This was, in fact, true. Only some of her memories had returned, and she had no recollection of this. They had never played games in Kul Elna.

"I'll teach you if you want." Sakhmet had actually been the one to teach Yugi years ago, so he hoped to get her to remember at least something.

"Okay."

TIME BREAK

"Wow, you're good at this game!" Sakhmet told Yugi after he had beaten her for the fourth time. After Yugi had explained the rules they had decided to start playing. Sakhmet had gradually remembered some memories of this game, so picking it up quite easily, yet couldn't remember anything specific.

"Well, it's probably just because you've just learnt how to play." Yugi said modestly, blushing. Sakhmet shook her head.

"No, Yugi. I'm no fool; I can tell you're very good at this game."

"Okay, how about we play again. Only this time, we'll play with some stakes."

"Sure, just tell me what I lose." She smirked jokingly.

"The winner gets to ask the loser a question of their choice, and the loser has to answer." Sakhmet happy face slipped for a moment, but it wasn't really noticeable.

"Okay. Let's start."

Part way through the game, some of the others came in.

"Oh there you are! Yugi, why didn't you tell us?"

"Oh, sorry. I was distracted by teaching Sakhmet how to play Senet, and we ended up playing some games."

"It's more my fault. I was the one who distracted him." Sakhmet told them.

"So, how many games have you played, and what are the stakes." Yami asked, his never-ending obsession with games showing through.

"This is our fifth game, and the loser has to answer a question from the winner."

They watched in silence, as Sakhmet and Yugi fought hard, but in the end Yugi came out on top.

"I win! Yay!"

"Of course you did, little King of Games." Sakhmet said, smiling. Yugi's eyes shined as she called him that. It was a nickname that he'd asked the others not to mention, as Sakhmet had been the first to call him that, so he hoped that this was a sign that her memory was coming back, or at least that she was still the same person. "So what's your question?"

"Umm...what was your past like? I mean, after you...left here? Can you tell us a bit? Maybe show us? Please!" He gave her the puppy dog eyes, but Sakhmet's smile slipped and she placed her head in her hands.

"I was afraid you would ask that." She stood up and walked a small distance away. "I'm sorry Yugi, but I can't answer your question. Not now." he began to walk away, but a wall of fire stopped her.

"If you made a promise, you must keep it. Have you no honour?"

"Of course I have honour, Atemu. No time was given when the stake was set, so therefore I have forever to answer Yugi's question. Besides, there are some things in my past that should never be repeated." Sakhmet was quick to show them the small loopholes, something that she was very good at.

"Then tell us something nice about your past." Atemu told her.

"That's the point; there is nothing nice about my past." She spoke with a cold voice, still with her back to them.

"And what could be so bad about your past, Princess of Thieves?" Marik asked the last bit rather sarcastic.

"Marik! How dare you say such a thing about our sister?" Yami shouted at him.

"But I'm right, aren't I?" Marik looked to Sakhmet, who had turned around, and who answered his smirk with one of her own.

"So you figured it out. Certainly took you long enough. I almost thought I would have to spend the rest of my life pretending to be one of you. How did you work it out?"

"You're fighting style. Besides, what peasant girl learns to fight like that?"

"So true. But there appears to be one thing you've forgotten Marik." She said, her gaze going over his shoulder to the window.

"And what's that?"

"Wherever the Princess is..."

"The King is always near." A deep voice from the window told them.

"Bakura!"

"Hello, fancy pants."Bakura leapt off the window sill and strode his way over to Sakhmet, and put his arms rather possessively around her, smirking at the others as if to say "she's mine".

"...But...but...sister how could you?"

"It's rather easy, actually. I guess you lot really are dumb if you didn't figure it out." After a small silence, Yugi asked a question that had rather damaging consequences.

"Why?"

"You killed my family." Bakura answered him.

"Ever heard of Kul Elna?" Sakhmet asked them.

"Kul what?" Everyone said, confused and staring at the two thieves.

"Why don't you ask dear old dad?" The princess sneered, before both of them swept out of the room, presumably to go to Sakhmet's room. The boys looked at each other before sitting down wearily. Eventually Marik decided to break the silence.

"Told you so." He joked at Seth.

"Shut up." Seth replied, for once out of words. Malik hit Marik over the head, somehow without hurting his hand on Marik's hair.

"Not the time for jokes, Marik."

After yet another long silence, Aknankanon walked in.

"Have any one you found..." He trailed off at the sombre mood in the room. "What's the matter?" He asked, taking a seat. There was a silence before Marik answered.

"It turns out that Sakhmet is the Princess of Thieves." He paused at Aknankanon's reaction. "And she told us to ask you what Kul Elna is."

"Kul Elna? How did she...never mind. Kul Elna...was a mistake. A tragedy. The worst ever. It began ten years ago, when the Great War began, and Sakhmet had just gone missing."

BREAK

Sakhmet and Bakura made their way to her room with relative ease; he just used his shadow powers to keep himself hidden. They went in complete silence, Sakhmet rather angry and upset. She walked into her room and closed the door behind them. She walked calmly over to a wooden cabinet, from which she picked up a rather pretty and expensive glass vase. She turned it over in her palm, inspecting it, before turning and throwing it against the door, where it smashed with a rather good sound.

"You know, it is quite dangerous doing that." Bakura told her jokingly, a smirk n his face. He couldn't care less if it had been a person instead of the door. As long as that person wasn't him, of course.

"Only for someone stupid enough to come in my room when I'm angry."

"Quite." He watched her form slump and sit on the bed.

"It still hurts. Every time someone mentions it, it still hurts..." Bakura sat behind her and wrapped his arms around her, both of them revealing their softer sides now that they were alone.

"It does. I don't think the pain will ever go away. Just know that you're not alone."

"Hmm. You remember that also, 'Kura. I'm with you. We both have each other."

"You're all I need." They sat there for a while, just basking in each other's presence, before Bakura broke the spell. "Let's go back. We don't need them to hear some mad lie, do we?"

"No." Sakhmet whispered back. They made their way back through the corridors much the same way as they had the first time, and reached the doorway just in time to hear Aknankanon say;

"Kul Elna...was a mistake. A tragedy. The worst ever. It began ten years ago, when the Great War began, and Sakhmet had just gone missing."

"A mistake and a tragedy? It was more than that." Those in the room turned to see the two thieves standing against the doorway, Bakura being the one who had spoken.

"It was murder."

TO BE CONTINUED

_Those of you who know the anime know about Kul Elna, if you don't know...then stay tuned!! BTW, I just had to put Yugi's nickname being King if Games! It was too good an opportunity to miss. And no, Sakhmet's not very good at games; she'd lose to practically every single character. She just taught them the game, Yugi then proceeded to beat her the first time he played. (Background information of Sakhmet, yay for author's notes!). Also, the poll result was 2 votes for working it out, and 1 for hood falling off, with 0 for all the others. While the hood was very dramatic, it didn't really show anything, and I couldn't think of what would happen next, so you got this!! Review please!!_


	10. Kul Elna

_Yay! New Chapter! Sorry for the wait, but I was working on Alleyway. Damn Plot bunnies! Bold is during the vision, but outside it._

* * *

"Yes, I suppose you could say Kul Elna was that. But first, allow me to explain my side of the story.

At the time of the Great War with our neighbours, just one year after Sakhmet had disappeared, Egypt was in crisis. I still believed that we could achieve peace, even though my brother, Akunadin, was keen to wage war. He then told me that he had managed to decode one of the spells inside the Sennen Spellbook, and that the spell was a ritual of sorts that would bring everlasting peace to Egypt with little cost. I trusted him, my own brother, with permission to perform the spell. He never told me about what happened at Kul Elna.

After leaving he then returned with the Sennen Items, of which he had already claimed the Sennen Eye. We all held them, and from them called forth our Ka spirits to defend Egypt. Years later, Mahado, who holds the Sennen Ring, told me that he had researched where they came from because he felt that something was wrong about the Sennen Ring. When he told me that 99 live sacrifices were given to create them I...I didn't know what to do."

"Just because you didn't know does not excuse you of the crime. You're the Pharaoh." Bakura told him.

"I know that. That's why I took Atemu and Yami to an underground chamber, and prayed for the gods to let me take the blame, not my children."

There was a pause in which everyone was silent.

"Humph. We still haven't forgiven you. What happened that day was..."Bakura shivered and hesitated, refusing to go on.

"I'm going to show you." Sakhmet suddenly declared, drawing "What's?" from everybody around.

"Are you sure about this?" Bakura asked her.

"Yes. It's easier than telling them. This is a little trick I picked up from some of my recently returned memories." She closed her eyes."Ishay, no valtai." The air around all of them began to change into a violet colour, and then the violet mist cleared to show a village scene.

Tiny, mud-huts lined a small main street in a village that had just over one hundred occupants. An eleven year-old girl walked down, her tri-coloured hair blowing back, wearing a simple cotton dress with a thin black belt and bear feet. A true smile lit up her face as she walked down the bustling street; one that actually reached her violet eyes. The apparent peacefulness was broken by a load cry.

"Sissy!" The young princess turned only for a white-haired three-year-old girl with dazzling blue eyes to jump up at her.

"Kisara, weren't you supposed to stay with mum and dad?"

"But I want to stay with you, sissy. Pwease?" Kisara pouted and looked up at Sakhmet with the dreaded puppy-eyes of doom. Sakhmet rolled her eyes.

"Okay, I'll take you with me, just stop those damned eyes!"

"Yay!" Kisara tightened her grip on Sakhmet's shoulders. The older girl laughed.

"Come on, then!" The young Sakhmet pulled Kisara down, the silent watchers gazing at the two in wonder of what was going to happen next, and why tears were shimmering in both Sakhmet's and Bakura's eyes.

The two girls reached what appeared to be the market place and made their way through the crowds filled with travellers and locals, Sakhmet leading Kisara as they weaved through the crowds. Eventually they came to the front of a small food stall.

"Oi, Bludger, what have you got today?" Sakhmet shouted at a large man who was fiddling with something at the back of his stall. He turned around to see Sakhmet and Kisara.

"Oh, hello, Sakhmet. I presume you need the usual stuff today, huh? And how's little Kisara doing?"

"Me fine." The small white-haired girl told him.

"Yes, just the usual. I just hope it doesn't cost too much. We don't have much stuff to sell; it's been ages since anybody actually went from the village, and father's ill."

"Ah. I thought I hadn't seen him in a while. Here you go." Bludger picked out quite a large loaf of bread that was obviously made for quantity not quality. "What are you going to trade for?" Sakhmet gave out a smirk much like the one her older counter-part often wore, and pulled out a beautiful silver bracelet.

"When I said we hadn't got much, I meant quantity, not quality." She spoke as the man's jaw dropped.

"Well, the Bakura family has always been famous for what they can create and steal."

"This was made, it was one of the few things my father has been able to make over the past few weeks. After all, he is a master craftsman."

"Here." Bludger pulled out a rough cotton bag and put more bread and some fruits inside it. "I believe this should do."

"Indeed." Both handed over their trades, before Sakhmet turned around and began to pull Kisara out of the crowd. When they got to the edge of the crowd into a more residential area away from the market, a young boy of around eleven ran up to the two girls.

"Hey, Sakhy, Kissy, I've been looking all over for you." The boy had white hair that reached his shoulders, and russet eyes that held a childish innocence. Despite this, he was easily recognisable as a younger Bakura. Young Sakhmet's eyes narrowed, though in a slightly playful.

"Ake, what did I tell you about calling me Sakhy?"

"Me no Kissy!" The little girl's response to her older brother was rather cute and amusing, a pout on her lips, making her look so very adorable. Ake just rolled his eyes.

"Fine, but Sakhmet is quite a long name, you have to admit. Here's a deal, I'll call you by your name if you call me by mine."

"Deal. Ake." Sakhmet smirked before running off with Kisara, the boy chasing her down the street. "Can't catch me!" She taunted.

"Watch me!"

After running for a few hundred metres, they stopped outside a hut that looked pretty much identical to the others.

"Mother! We're home!" Sakhmet called before striding inside.

"Oh there you are! And Kisara, you know you shouldn't worry me like that Kisara. Have you got the stuff, Sakhmet?" A slim woman who looked around thirty appeared, shaking out her long white hair similar to her daughter's.

"Here." The eleven-year-old princess handed over her bag. "Oh, and Ake's outside."

"Akefia! Get inside, now! I have a job for you." She shouted, having clearly done this several times. The said boy walked in, pouting.

"But mother, I found Kisara, didn't I."

"From the looks of things, Sakhmet found Kisara." Sakhmet stuck her tongue out at Akefia, who stuck his out in retaliation. "However, this job is for both of you." The two adopted siblings halted their childish staring contest to look at their mother. "I need you two to go to the nearby oasis and get me some more lita flower for your father." At the mention of him both eleven year olds' faces turned serious.

"Sure, mother. Come on, Sakhmet."

Akefia and Sakhmet left the hut and walked together down the road, infinitely, more calm than they had been during the chase down the street. "You know, it's kind of weird. You've been here for a year, and yet I feel as if I've known you forever." Sakhmet laughed in response.

"Yeah." Then she sighed. "You're all I can remember. I don't remember anything about my life before you rescued me." Akefia put his arm around her shoulders in a rare display of affection.

"Don't worry. You'll remember soon enough. Then we'll find your real family."

"You won't leave me, will you?"

"Ha. I'm not going to leave, even if you want me to, for I am the Great Thief King Bakura, able to steal anything from anywhere, be it a tomb or the palace!" He made gestures with his arms while Sakhmet giggled.

"The biggest thing you've ever stolen is a potato."

"I'm still learning." He pouted while Sakhmet laughed harder. "Besides what's the best thing you've ever stolen?"

"How about...your dagger?" She revealed her arm that was furthest away from Akefia, showing that gripped in her hand was a roughly hewn dagger.

"Hey, give that back!"

"You got to catch me first!" She declared, before running off across the dunes. Akefia gave chase, both children laughing as they ran. Sakhmet suddenly twisted her body round and threw the dagger at Akefia. "Catch!" Akefia's right hand swept across his body, catching the dagger effortlessly in his hand without breaking stride.

The two of them skidded to a halt at the edge of a beautiful oasis. Small flowers grew around the edge of a small pool of blue water. Sakhmet closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Akefia looked at the pool, then gave a sly grin in Sakhmet's direction, before pushing her into the pool. It wasn't very deep, but was enough to make her hair and clothes completely sopping. The girl shook her head out, before holding her hand out. When Akefia took it to help her up, she instead pulled him down next to her.

"Revenge is mine!" She proceeded to give what was obviously supposed to be an evil laugh, but became hysterical giggles part way through.

"You know what this means..." Akefia told her, slowly turning his head from his wet hands to her.

"Water Fight!" They exclaimed at the same time, before standing and slashing the water over each other with huge grins on their faces. After a few moments playing, they both climbed out and lay side by side, drying out in the sun.

"You know, we should probably do what we came here to do."

"Yeah." The two children wearily stood up, before kneeling next to some of the plants and cutting off flowers, leaves and roots with sharp knives hidden in their clothes.

Akefia straightened up, looking back towards Kul Elna with an expression of horror. "Sakhmet..."

"Yes..." Sakhmet turned to look in his direction, before looking where he was. Her breathe caught in her throat. Kul Elna...was on fire. The two looked to each other, before hurtling back down the path as fast as they could. They stopped for a while at the edge, before diving into the burning village together. They ran through the streets, hiding in a doorway or round a corner every time they saw a guard, although most seemed to be heading in a certain direction in the centre of the village.

In the centre of the village was a cleared space which usually held the market, along with a passageway to the underground village temple, however now all it held was trashed stalls with goods thrown all over, devoid of life. All of them were on fire. From the passageway and stairs leading underground came a flickering light, similar to the fire around them. The two children raced down, their bare feet making little noise on the cold stone. They came out into the main area of the rather plain temple, and saw a hastily erected wooded platform there, which ended in a drop into a cauldron from which golden fumes emitted. They ran and hid behind a thick stone pillar, and watched helplessly as villagers were dragged to the platform and into the gold.

Their hands interlocked as the two silently cried, rooted to the spot with fear. Sakhmet turned her head away and buried her face in Akefia's shoulder as he turned away.

"Please, take me, leave my children please!" Both children looked up as they heard a voice they recognised. A white-haired woman was pleading with the guards, holding a white-haired little girl's hand. Those watching recognise the girl as Kisara. The guards grabbed hold of her drab clothing, which was more like rags, and threw her unresisting into the cauldron.

Sakhmet's body light up white in anger, her eyes becoming rapidly paler, a burst of white magic was about to explode...a small hand wrapped in deepest black shadows wrapped around her mouth and pulled her back behind the pillar. Akefia had noticed, and while he wanted to help their mother, he knew that they could never win against all these guards, as much as it pained him to admit it. Tragically beautiful, transparent teardrops rolled down their faces in silent agony.

Then a robed figure spoke up. They hadn't really noticed him or his companions before, as they mainly were silent and stood off to the side; the guards were much more important to the children.

"Just one more, and then we will have all ninety-nine."

"Which one should it be, High Priest?" Sakhmet and Akefia gasped at the title. A High Priest? In Kul Elna?

"Hmm...that one." The robed figure pointed...at Kisara. "There is nothing worse than a corrupted youngling, or obeying the wishes of an evildoer." Corrupted youngling? Evildoer? He couldn't be talking about Kisara and mother, yet he was. They hoped that the guards would object to kill the tiny three-year-old, yet they moved in without question, their eyes strangely blank of all emotion. They grabbed the girl, and one of them hauled her over his shoulder to make it easier, and carried her towards the platform.

"Brother! Sister!" The little girl cried out, hitting her small fists against the soldiers back, tears running down her face.

Both kids looked at each other before pulling out weapons; Akefia two small daggers, and Sakhmet the belt that was in fact a black snakeskin whip. They ran out, snarling at the guards, taking out two before the brainwashed soldiers has even realised they were there. Other guards circled them, and though the two children fought hard, they were severely outnumbered. One guard raised his sword and slashed across Akefia's eye, making his cry out in pain and drop his daggers, one side blinded by blood. Sakhmet stood by him, face still defiant.

"High Priest, should we kill them?"

"No. Let them witness what their fellow villages have created. Let them see the death of their sister."

**Those watching gasped at his words. **

**"Brother...how could you?" Aknankanon whispered to himself. The others turned to the grown-up Sakhmet and Bakura. Bakura had his head bent and turned away so that no-one could see his tears. Sakhmet had her head buried in his shoulder, doing her best not to cry. Needless to say, she wasn't succeeding. As they turned back to the image, they saw it waver slightly, as though affected by Sakhmet's grief.**

The single guard walked on, his burden hitting his back with all her might.

"Sakhmet! Akefia!" She shouted their names, terrified. "Help me!"

"Kisara!" Akefia and Sakhmet shouted, both leaping at the guards surrounding them, driven by desperation. They were both grabbed by the guards, and couldn't escape no matter what. A white light began to build up on Sakhmet's skin, but it was stopped by shadows. Luckily the guards didn't notice this.

Akefia wasn't stupid, he knew that using magic would be dangerous and stupid, not to mention suicidal. Kisara was thrown screaming into the pot of golden liquid, which frothed and boiled even more fiercely.

"Kill the rest." Guards other than the ones holding Sakhmet and Akefia moved, slaughtering the other villagers, some of whom were too shocked to even react.

"You bastards! You won't get away with this!" Akefia shouted, defiance showing in his blood-ridden, twisted face.

"Oh, but I already have, young thief. Now watch and behold the Items that will restore peace to Egypt!" Guards hauled on the ropes attached to the cauldron, hauling it off and tipping it so the vile liquid could be poured into the mould beneath. Once it was all in the cauldron was put to the side, and quickly forgotten about as blinding golden light shone from the mould, before it split to reveal a stone slab which was in the shape of a human, holding all seven Sennen Items. The priests gathered picked up all of them except the Ring, when a huge tremor shock the room, and one of the pillars collapsed. The guards let go of Sakhmet and Akefia, who clung to each other, both realising that they were probably going to be crushed to death. Then part of the floor around the Sennen Stone gave way, revealing a bottomless pit into which most of the priests and guards fell. Then a shadowy monster's hand reached out towards the High Priest, the only one left.

"Give back the Sennen Items."

"No. The Items...belong to us!" The priest lifted one hand and pushed the Sennen Eye into his own, the golden glow pushing back the monster. He then grabbed the Sennen Ring before high-tailing it out of the place. Sakhmet and Akefia made to follow him, but part of the roof collapsed in front of them, blocking the entrance. Sudden quiet raced around the place, infecting the corners as the two children faced each other.

"We're going to die."

"Like hell." Sakhmet grabbed his hand, before closing her eyes and focusing. The white light surrounded her again, and this time Akefia didn't stop it. Angelic wings burst from her back; they flapped once before lifting both of them up and through the hole in the roof.

**The image faded, and all eyes went towards the now rather distraught thieves.**

Far away, in the depths of another realm, another being remembered that day, though with slightly different views. That day had been planned for years, yet one thing had gone astray. No matter, everything was in place. Soon, the Door to Darkness would be opened, and he would win the war.

* * *

_Read and Review please!_


	11. Isadora

_Sorry this has taken so long. Hopefully I can make up for the wait with the image of Akefia and Marik fighting in nothing but shentis..._

There were some that had their doubts about having the King of Thieves stay in the palace, but none dared to voice them. There had been a few minor complications, but most were sorted out by various (false) rumours that the Princess, being part- god like the rest of the royal family, had reformed him and made him a good person, and then they had fallen in love. While this story had its merits, most in the palace found that this story also had its problems.

The two thieves, especially Bakura, had joined Malik and Marik in their quest to play as many childish pranks on as many people as possible, including each other. Marik had tried to get Sakhmet back for the water, but upon finding out that both thieves held anyone who came into their room at knife point when they entered, he stopped (mainly because Malik always came with him). Not entirely, but as well as anyone could hope for.

No-one ever mentioned Kul Elna, nor the fact that they had seen Sakhmet and Bakura cry. Everyone realised that is was too serious a subject to joke about.

I could recount all the events that followed, the various pranks, the royal family finding out that Bakura and Sakhmet had strange methods of learning things, the criminals caught, the slight difficulty some people had accepting the two thieves, and the various random trips those two made to "sort some stuff out". However, this would take too long, and is not important in this story. In fact, life was rather dull. Until...

"Bakura, could I talk with you for a second?" The Pharaoh addressed the thief, who had ditched his red robe and only wore a navy shenti. Bakura followed him wearily, glaring at Aknankanon with suspicious eyes.

"Well?" He said, once they were inside a small side room which appeared to have no function what-so-ever.

"Bakura, I want to tell you something. I am aware that you are on edge all the time here, not that I can't see a reason for it." He held up his hand as Bakura opened his mouth. "I know that this has been hard for you, more so than for Sakhmet. You feel as though you don't belong. I want...no, I would like it, if you could try and think of us as your family. I know we can never replace your old family, but I would like you to try."

"If you think that this will make up for Kul Elna-"

"I'm not saying that. I don't think anything ever will. I would just like you to feel as though you belong. You love Sakhmet, I know, I can tell. Therefore, you are going to stay here as long as she does. I want you...to at least try and trust us." Bakura let out a grunt.

"I will never trust you or your kind, Pharaoh." The thief turned his back and prepared to leave the room.

"My name is Aknankanon."

"...My name is Akefia."

"Listen up, all of you." Aknankanon had gathered everyone in the main lounge, (there were several, and seeing as some people had a habit of hiding, this was quite a feat), "the Greek king has offered us all an invite to his son's wedding, and so we need to set off immediately."

"And you didn't tell us this before because..." Bakura asked.

"Because the messenger has only just arrived." The Pharaoh replied curtly, before continuing. "So, I suggest you get packing. It's a long journey to Greece." He left.

"Right. So, what's the Greek royal family like?"

"I have no idea." Atemu told him truthfully.

"They have on heck of an annoying language." Jou put in helpfully. Bakura groaned at the thought of yet another language to learn. You see, because he was a peasant and thief, he had never, like most of Egypt's population, learned how to write (except for thieves code, which was simple pictures), and the way he talked was the equivalent to street slang. Therefore, Sakhmet had decided to try and teach him, as no-one else dared (although one peek into their "teaching sessions", and it was clear how Sakhmet had _persuaded_ him to learn).

Getting back on subject, he was now quite competent at writing simple words and hieroglyphics, but wasn't particularly keen on learning more (he enjoyed the time with Sakhmet, but didn't like the leaning aspect).

"Don't worry, most of them speak Egyptian, and Sakhmet can help you with the Greek." Yami told him, blissfully unaware of the wink Sakhmet and Bakura shared with each other.

"Of course I'll _help_ him."

Just then Mahado entered the room.

"Sakhmet, Bakura, I'd like a word with you." The two followed him out, to a small room where they had learned magic. Sakhmet had most of her memories back, and so was just as good as the others, yet still trained with Bakura. The reason for this was unknown to all but a few. "Now, I want you two to carry on practicing, and when you come back you can start working with the others. Now," The magician took out a scroll. "I've come up with a plan for each day you're there, as while I will be coming with you, I won't have much time." He handed them the scroll, which Bakura unrolled and squinted at, trying to understand what it said. After a few moments he gave up and gave it to Sakhmet, who didn't even bother looking at it. "When you come back, I can start to place you both into the Circle." The two nodded, and left.

The Royal party left the palace a couple of very busy days later. Bakura and Sakhmet had refused to ride the palace horses, and called for their own black horses, which contrasted the Royal white horses. Marik and Malik both rode Arabian horses, while Jou rode a chestnut. They were accompanied by a number of Royal Guard and some other highly trained soldiers.

They rode all day, barely stopping at all. They eventually came to the shore. By this time, Ra had almost set, so it was decided that they would set up camp for the night and sail to Greece the next day. Everyone got settled into their rather luxurious silk tents, and most had gone to sleep. Only a few guards stayed on watch, switching with their companions every few hours.

It had just reached midnight, when the dim crescent moon was half-way across the sky, when the alarm calls went up. The two thieves were up and armed in a matter of moments striding out of their shared tent and into the chaos. Bakura hadn't had time to dress, and wore only a white shenti, and carried a couple of throwing knives. Sakhmet wore a skimpy black shift, and wielded a black whip. They leapt into the fray, taking out many before them.

Yugi woke slowly, his eyes blinking open as he heard the noise outside.

"Wha-"

"Just stay here. I'm going out to fight." Yami came into his vision, dressed and holding a sword. Yugi sleepily nodded, before lying down again. He lay there for a while, listening and flinching to the horrific sounds of battle around him. Eventually, he got up, and peaked around the each of the tent fabric. He stood up, watching people fight with a look of horror. Yugi had always had an aversion to violence and fighting, and he had vowed to himself never to use violence before he had tried everything else, and, if Yami had let him, he would have taken a proper vow against harming any living thing.

Thus, as he watched people clash swords and paint the ground in each other's blood, he couldn't help but feel bile rise in his throat. In fact, he was so distracted by this vision of horror, that he didn't notice the large man approach him until he was in between Yugi and the tent. Yugi was frozen to the spot with fear, and he thought he was going to die. Yami was off fighting far away, too far away. Yugi closed his eyes. He was going to die.

Yami hit down another of the enemy, before he paused to look back at the tent with Yugi in. To his utmost horror, he saw Yugi standing outside him, one of the enemy raising his sword to kill him. Yami ran, trying to reach Yugi, but in his heart he knew it was in vain; he was too far away. Tears were already spilling down his face at the prospect of the one he loved dying. Part of him wondered if he himself might die when Yugi did.

Bakura, having already killed two men with his throwing knives, planted his foot in the chest of another, forcing him to cough up blood, as Bakura grabbed his knife. Bakura ran him through on his own, cruel, 12 inch knife, before pulling it out. Pausing in his fighting, Bakura surveyed his surroundings. The only enemy near him was facing away from him...and standing over Yugi. The boy looked terrified and as though he was going to die. Bakura remembered Kisara having a similar look just as she was thrown into the cauldron and Aknankanon's words; _"think of us as your family"_. Bakura never let anyone hurt his family. With a harsh snarl, Bakura leapt, plunging his newly acquired blade straight through the man's chest.

Yugi saw a blade suddenly appear out of the man's chest, and saw his eyes dilate, and blood to appear at his mouth, before the knife was retracted and his would-be-killer fell forwards, dead. Yugi looked up at his saviour, meeting Bakura's. Astonished amethyst met cold brown, before Bakura nodded ever so slightly and ran back into the fray. Yugi stared after him, shocked. What had caused a man who, despite being in love with Sakhmet, still despised the royal family, to save Yugi? He could have let Yugi die and pretend he couldn't get there. Ra, he himself couldn't work out how the thief had managed to get himself there fast enough, as Yugi had been sure no-one was near enough.

His train of thought broke, however, when Yami rushed up to him.

"Yugi are you alright? You really had me scared there, I don't know what I-"

"Yami, I'm fine. Just a little shaken." Yugi smiled at his love. "I'll go back inside now."

"No need. The fighting has already stopped." Yami waved his hand, showing that indeed the fighting had stopped, and the only one who survived was awaiting questioning.

"You go, Yami. I'll wait here." Yami nodded, knowing that Yugi couldn't stand watching someone else, even the enemy, get hurt.

Yami made his way over just in time to hear his father say;

"State your name." The man simply spat at the Pharaoh's feet and stayed silent.

"His name is Seyrak." Bakura strode over, his eyes fixed on the tied up man, Sakhmet walking beside him, whip in hand. Bakura himself held a long curved knife. Seyrak turned his head, his eyes widening when he saw them.

"So, it is true! The Great Thief King and Thief Princess have betrayed their kind!" The moment he said that Sakhmet's black whip snaked across his face, sending him crashing into the ground.

"For your information, rat, neither of us have sold any one of our fellows to them. However, we also gave distinct instructions not to attack this caravan. So tell me, rat," Bakura placed his knife pointing upwards into Seyrak's chin. "Why did you?" There was silence, until Seyrak said something.

"I have a message to deliver."

"From who?"

"The Black Witch. She told me to say "Zork will rise"." Both Bakura's and Sakhmet's eyes widened, before Bakura's narrowed. He removed his knife from Seyrak's chin, and in one strike chopped off his right hand, then straightened up.

"For obeying someone else's orders, and for disobeying ours, you are no longer one of ours. Goodbye, Seyrak." Both Bakura and Sakhmet turned around to head away. "He's all yours, Pharaoh." Bakura called out over his shoulder.

Seyrak was executed, and they all went on their merry way to Greece. In order to get there, they had to travel on boats, which were much bigger than the rafts that were used on the Nile. Thus, when the two thieves saw the boat, and the huge expanse of water that seemed to have no end, it wasn't surprising that they both stopped, jaws wide. When stepping on the boat, neither fully trusted it, and kept looking at the boards as if they thought they were going to fall apart any second. Later, both thieves discovered something else. Sea-sickness.

In fact, pretty much everyone on board was sea-sick in some way, all except Heba. When Bakura asked (more like shouted), why he didn't he told him that it was because he was a water mage and water mages "don't get sea-sick." Needless to say, this did little to improve Bakura's mood. What did improve it, however, was that Atemu had it even worse than him. Apparently, fire mages got sea-sick very badly.

Other than that, the journey was going pretty well. On the second day, Bakura's sea-sickness was nearly under control, so he stood brooding on deck, alone. Or at least, he seemed alone.

"You don't like this, do you?" Yami approached; slightly disappointed that he hadn't been able to sneak up on the thief.

"Of course not."

"Why not?"

"...You wouldn't understand."

"Try me." Yami challenged him. Bakura smirked.

"Okay. As a thief, I know my way round pretty much every major tomb and palace. I know every way in and out. I also know that if there isn't a way out, I will die."

"What does that have to do with being on a ship?" Yami queried, annoyed that a smug look appeared on Bakura's face.

"Take a look around you, Prince. Can you see a way out?" Yami's eyes widened in realisation.

"Oh."

"Exactly. If this ship is attacked or sinks, then there is no way out. We will all die. That is what I don't like." He made to sweep past the Prince, but Yami stopped him by saying.

"Bakura...don't call me Prince. Call me Yami." Said Prince was looking out to sea as he said this.

"...Then call me Akefia." Akefia then went past him, straight through an open doorway without looking back. Yami stared after him, incredulous. Had the thief just told him his real name?

It wasn't two hours after, that Bakura's prediction came true. Another ship was spotted, and it was immediately treated with suspicion as it didn't have a flag. As it sailed closer, those on deck got more and more agitated. Eventually, Yami and Atemu went and gave out what looked like golden armbands with wing-shaped extensions. Akefia looked at his, turning it in his hands, before raising his eyebrow at Yami who had given it to him. Yami nodded over at Sakhmet, who had already placed hers on her wrist. Akefia copied her, unsure of what it was.

"Sakhmet...what the hell are these things?"

"I...think...that they are called Dia-Diunks. You can use them to summon your Ka, or a Ka that was captured. But..." She sighed. "I was never taught how to use one."

"We don't have time to teach you how to call up a captured Ka, so you'll just have to summon your own." Yami had approached them, and started to explain what to do. "Just close your eyes and try to bring what makes you, you forward. That's the best way I have of explaining it." He looked to the others. "Just copy everyone else." The priests were all moving forwards, ready to summon their Ka's.

"Illusion Magician!"

"Spiria!"

"Theinen the Great Sphinx!"

"Blast Magician!"

"Roc from the Valley of Haze!"

"Gearfried the Iron Knight!" Now that all six priests had summoned, it was the turn of some others.

"Magician of Faith!"

"Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys!"

"Winged Sage Falcos!" Now it was the turn of the Circle.

"Kuriboh!"

"Winged Kuriboh!"

"Revival Jam!"

"Red Eyes Black Dragon!"

"Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

"Osiris the Sky Dragon!"

"Obelisk the Tormentor!"

"Winged Dragon of Raa!" The two thieves looked at each other, before calling out their own Kas.

"Black Demon!"

"White Demon!" Two huge, humanoid demons joined the already huge assembled mass of creatures. Carefully, Sakhmet and Bakura joined hands. Above them, their two demons joined, creating a large, true fusion, with black and white parts. The demon had one black, leathery wing and one similar white wing. It wielded a large silver sword which had black and white gems in the hilt, claws of alternating colours, and similar eyes. It had white horn among black hair on one side, and a black horn among white hair in the other.

However, there was no chance to properly investigate this fusion, because the enemies' monsters were now upon them. Wave upon wave of hovering skeletons armed with machetes flew at them, all strangely without legs. All were easily chopped down by the summoned Kas, vanishing quickly. That was, until they simply reappeared. For every one that was chopped down, an identical one appeared in its place. Sakhmet and Bakura, however, instead of focusing on fighting like the others, left that to their shared Ka.

They instead looked over to the opposing ship, trying to spot anything that could possibly be keeping the skeletons alive. Suddenly, Sakhmet's keen eyes spotted a grotesque orange shape squatting on the deck.

"There!" She pointed at it. Akefia narrowed his eyes, looked at Sakhmet, and nodded.

"Twilight Demon!" They shouted. "Get it!" The massive demon flew above the fight, hiding itself in the fog. Sakhmet and Akefia closed their eyes, trying to sense when it had done the deed. They could suddenly see through the demon's eyes as it flew above the blue waters in search of its target. Once above, the demon prepared a massive ball of black and white energy, which it threw at its target before flying away fast.

The two thieves on board grinned at their victory, and happily noticed that the skeletons were now all disappearing, becoming nothing. They could also hear the screams and shouts aboard the other ship.

"Now. Send over your Kas and destroy the other ship!" There was a shout of victory as the Pharaoh ordered them to destroy their enemies, and they all flew over, intent on obliterating their enemies. That was, until a gigantic dragon appeared behind the enemy ship.

Its bones were on the outside, like it had been turned inside-out, and they could see pools of blood all over its body, along with large red muscles and tendons that flexed every time it flapped it wings. The dragon lifted its heavy head, opened its mouth, and shot a massive ball of black and red energy at the approaching Kas.

Karimu and Amara cried out as Roc and Phoenix were hit and fell into the ocean.

"Illusion Magician, Illusion Magic!"

"Blast Magician, Thousand Blast!"

"Can I use Raa's attack now?" Marik whispered to Atemu. He really wanted a piece of the action.

"No. We can't attack with the gods until all the others are out of the way." Marik pouted. He loved destruction and fire...and Malik. How Malik had anything to do with the above was completely incomprehensible for anyone else, so they didn't question it.

The dragon swerved out of the way of the attacks, before shooting its own attack. Luckily, Kuriboh multiplied, and was joined by Winged Kuriboh and Revival Jam who kept the other Kas safe.

"Illusion Magician, Spellbinding Illusion!" A large pentagram encircled the dragon, which let out a roar and struggled against its bindings. The ones on the boat cheered and their Kas rushed in for an attack. Suddenly the dragon let out a mighty roar and broke free, preparing to attack the exposed Kas.

"Magician of Faith! Spell Revival - Spellbinding Illusion!" A second pentagram encircled the dragon. It broke free even quicker than last time, but it bought the Kas enough time to get safely behind their barrier.

"We need to kill that thing, and soon." Everyone nodded, faces grim. The dragon was beginning to piss the more volatile members of the party off. By that, I mean Marik was going to kill something, whether it was the dragon or not. Up in the air, his Ka was displaying the same impatience, letting out a high-pitched cry as it burst into flames. All other Kas immediately got out of its way as it flew, enraged, at the dragon, which promptly burst into flames and fell onto the other ship.

"See. Problem solved." Marik said with a grin. Atemu face palmed. There were some things that psycho just couldn't learn. Restraint, for example.

"Mistress, our sea crew has been beaten."

"That doesn't matter. Get the third attack ready."

"Mistress, are you sure it's wise to attack them several times so close together; I mean, we have lost so many already-"

"Are you questioning my orders?"

"Well, Mistress, I'm just not sure it's wise; as a strategist-"

"I care not for what you are. They need to take good note of us, and view us as a threat. Believe me, the mere knowledge of my existence will drive a wedge between them all, and when the thieves leave both parties will be weakened. _Then _we will deal the final blow, and the tyrants will fall! Now, ready a ship to Greece. Let's see what happens when they are divided!"

"...Yes, Mistress."

The rest of the trip was without mishap, unless you count the various silver bracelets that vanished and ended up on Sakhmet's wrist, despite the fact she had never touched them.

Finally they reached the palace. It was similar in size to the Egyptian one, and had statues of the Greek gods and images from their various myths. To greet them, the Greek King, Queen, Prince and Princess came out.

Greetings of a various nature were exchanged, and introductions were made. The King and Queen were quite nice, and could speak very good Egyptian. The Prince, too, seemed nice, although he did seem quite wary of Bakura. The Princess, however, seemed bubbly, and had a strange habit of switching languages in the middle of her sentences, and talked so fast that it was difficult to make out what she was saying. She was the only one of the four, who started chatting to Sakhmet and Bakura with no hesitation, and seemed to have completely forgotten that they hadn't been introduced yet. Then she noticed the others were wondering off.

"Follow me, I'll show you to your rooms."

"Couldn't you just get a servant to do it?"

"I could...but that would mean I was bored, and when I'm bored things around me seem to set on fire randomly. Therefore, if I keep busy I will only set things on fire when I want to...which is most of the time."

"Early morning, rise and shine! Aaarrgh!" The call echoed through the rooms of all in the palace, and it was located as being the Greek Princess, who was currently running full pelt away from her brother.

"Isadora, I'm going to kill you! " The Egyptians laughed as they watched her run away, and followed them down to the gardens where eventually the Prince pinned Isadora. "Why can't I have a lie-in on my wedding day?"

"Because you need to show enthusiasm! And also your lazy, and need to get into a good habit!" The red-haired girl replied.

"I'm not lazy! I'm going back to bed, and don't even try to wake me up, or I'll set Spear Dragon on your ass!" The Prince got up and stalked back to his room. Isadora got up, and shouted back at him,

"I'd just fry it with my Raging Flame Sprite!" Before grinning at the audience. "Oh, Sakhmet..." Isadora ran over, grabbed said girl, and ran off, dragging the female thief off. "We're having a girls' day! That means no guys!"

Isadora, Isis, Anzu and Sakhmet sat on the grass, laughing together as they talked about...pretty much everything. All in all, it was a pretty boring day, as the last minute preparations were underway. The only real thing of interest was that Akefia told the other guys his real name, and proceeded to fail miserably at beating Yugi and Yami at any game.

"Stupid luck of the draw."

The wedding was nice, a very formal affair, with a huge banquet and dancing. Jou and Seth were to be found at the table; Seth trying to talk civilly to Jou, who had his mouth full. Most others were on the dance floor, and Bakura and Sakhmet found that if they copied others they could dance okay together. Part way through, Isadora asked Sakhmet is she could talk to her for a second. The black-haired thief followed to red-haired princess into a small, deserted hallway.

"So, what is it?"

"Well...you know your brothers like...err...the same sex?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"Well...I do to."

"Huh?"

"I like girls. And I...I know you love Bakura, but..."

"You love me?"

"Yes." There was a short pause. "Can I...kiss you? Please?" Sakhmet laughed, kissed her friend chastely on the lips, and walked back to find her partner. Isadora touched her lips with her fingers, and sighed.

Back in the dance hall, Akefia was having trouble seeing off his admirers, who had surrounded him the moment Sakhmet had left.

"Forget her, you need a real woman."

"Oh please, sexy, spend the night with me!" Sakhmet quirked an eyebrow at her flailing lover, before going into the mix and rescuing him by kissing him the lips, which got all the admirers to skulk away.

"Someone's certainly popular."

"Shut up and kiss me."

"Atemu?" Said prince turned to his smaller husband.

"What is it, Heba?"

"I just had a vision." Heba was a water mage, and a seer, though his visions usually came in dreams.

"What about?"

"Something will happen...tonight."

That night when all were sleeping, twenty shadows crept into the grounds, and began to climb the walls, each praying to their own gods to keep them safe. They carefully made their way into certain guest bedrooms, the locations of which had been leaked to them by a certain person at the party. They made their way silently into each, and used cloths with a special sleeping potion on them to make sure all stayed asleep. There were, of course, a few mishaps.

"Get the fuck out!" Marik stabbed his sword through the belly of one of the ones that thought they could capture_ him. _Fools.

"Mar-" Marik turned to see Malik in the grasp of another, his mouth covered and a dagger at his throat.

"Drop the dagger or he dies." Marik breathed in, out...and the sword clattered to the floor. He fell almost immediately after it as a third pressed a cloth to his mouth and nose. Malik tried to let out a scream as he fell, and renewed his struggling, but it proved futile as a cloth was pressed over his own mouth and he fell to the ground beside his fallen lover.

In Sakhmet and Bakura's room, things went a little differently.

"Tie..." Bakura whispered.

"Sur..." Sakhmet replied.

"DI!" They shouted, launching themselves out of bed with daggers in their hands. Two of the men were stabbed in the chest, blood flying everywhere and coating the thieves in bright red blood. Akefia grabbed the third, and placed a dagger to his throat from behind while Sakhmet surveyed him from the front.

"Who sent you?"The one in Akefia's grip trembled, before he launched himself forwards onto the blade, killing himself. The two thieves looked at each other, nodded, and jumped straight out of the window, wings coming forth from their backs and shadows hiding them from the kidnappers. They grabbed their cloaks, and raced after them, using random horses from the stables. They didn't bother getting them tacked up, instead riding bareback to the docks, hopping onto a small boat without hesitation, and rowing after the kidnappers.

When sunrise came, there was only a couple of minutes of peace before the alarm call went up.

"Typical. Just typical." The Pharaoh sighed as he made his way into the large meeting room. They all sat round a table trying to figure out what to do about the missing royals, and where their kidnappers could be heading. No ransom note had been found yet. Just then, a rather dishevelled looking Isadora burst into the room.

"You called?"

"Yes. I need you to locate the Egyptian royals." Isadora nodded and sat before the large decorative map currently spread over the large table. She placed her finger on it, sweeping it across the map in a searching fashion. She grinned at Aknankanon and Amara's confused faces.

"I'm a dowser. I can find anything." With that she closed her eyes, and her finger moved over to the Egypt region, moving very slowly alongside the Nile. "Sakhmet's there. Bakura's with her. I can't sense any others there. I'm going to contact Sakhmet's mind, and she will tell you all."

Sakhmet felt a strange presence in her mind, one that felt vaguely familiar.

"Hi, Sakhmet!" The voice in her head called.

"Isadora?"

"Yes. Listen, I'm going to let you speak through me, so just say out loud what happened, and your mother, father and all the others here will be able to hear you, got it?"

"Yep."

They waited with baited breath for what they were about to here, when Isadora's face broke out into a smirk.

"Hiya." She said in a voice that clearly wasn't hers. "Me and Bakura are heading after the others who got kidnapped. We're in Egypt, so when we get them back we'll just head back to the palace. Don't worry, we'll see you soon. Bye!" Those in the room exchanged glances. Crazy girl.

Sakhmet and Akefia came to a halt just round a dune from where the kidnappers had made camp. They nodded together, and listened for a cue for their planned entrance.

When the captives awoke, they found themselves chained to a post on the ground, thick chains around their necks and wrists, and shirts removed, with lots of ugly, beefy men staring down at them.

"Heh. Well will you look at that? All scared and tied up." The speaker leaned down, his face close to Malik's. "I'll bet you'll do anything to get free, won't you?" He hissed before standing up. "What do you lot say we have some fun before Mistress arrives?" His proposal had the entire camp cheering. "I'll start with this one, then." He grabbed hold of the chains around Malik's neck, hauling the boy up and kissing him. Malik struggled to get away, tears in his eyes as the chains tightened around him. Marik growled, and, using some very helpful counter-intuitive knowledge, relaxed in the chains, slipping them off his body. He stood up and landed a very good punch on the man kissing Malik.

The self-proclaimed leader staggered away, spat blood out of his mouth before grabbing hold of Malik again, this time holding his back against his own chest while three of his henchmen held Marik.

"Leave Malik alone!" Marik roared at them, his face twisting into a snarl.

"Relax, we won't do anything to hurt your little whore." The thief shoved Malik on the sand, and the blond scrambled away only to be chained up again with the others. "But, you managed to get yourself free. So why don't you help me put on a show, Captain."

"A...show?"

"Yes. Fight me. Let me see how well you could keep your threat." The thief shed his blue cloak, and picked up two swords. "Of course, I don't mean a _fair _fight, oh no." He laughed, then turned serious. "Me and my crew are going to kill you all, and you're first, aren't you lucky." Marik merely growled and raised his fists to fight.

The thief charged and swung the swords at Marik, who ducked and shot his leg out, tripping the thief. Unfortunately, the thief merely flipped back up again.

"Ha. That sort of trick won't work against me. You see this mark?" He held up his right hand, showing the palm to Marik. There was a tattoo burnt into his skin; that of a key crossed with a dagger. "This means that not only have I been trained by the King and Princess of Thieves, but I am also part of their crew. As are all of the people around here." One by one, the other thieves showed their right palms, each one baring the mark. "We are all blessed by them, so how can you even hope of beating us?"

"I can damn well try!" Marik shouted back, before launching himself at the thief. Holding both swords meant that he couldn't use his hands in close combat, and Marik got some very good punches in and he was pretty sure he heard one of the thief's ribs crack.

"Heh...you're pretty good...but I have the upper hand!" The thief swung his swords at Marik, who gained another cut across his knuckles, and a slash across his chest immediately after, sending him plummeting to the ground, spitting out blood. Both swords rested against his throat. "You're done for, Captain."

"Marik!" Malik called out, his struggling increasing against the chains he had been bound in. Two burly thieves hauled him, kicking, to his feet, and held him still, his back pressed against one with a dagger at his throat, while the other made his way in front of him and kissed him harshly. Tears trailed down Malik's cheeks as he couldn't move, and Marik cried out his name, unable to do anything. The captives watched in horror as Malik was forced to kiss this horrible thief.

"Unhand the boy." A command made in deep baritones shocked the entire camp. They turned to see Akefia standing beside his horse, his red cloak flowing around him. Beside him was Sakhmet, her hood up, her eyes gleaming almost black in the firelight, just as Akefia's glowed red.

"Mekra! Dora!" The thieves knelt as they looked at their rulers.

"Dora..." Akefia said with a smirk over his shoulder. Sakhmet moved, faster than any of the captives had seen before. The two thieves holding Malik were pulled off and had their heads knocked together.

"Sa-" Malik was cut off as Sakhmet's hand went across his mouth.

"Not a word, prisoner." She spat, before dragging him over to where the others were chained up, before throwing him down, and chaining him up. She leaned close and whispered to him, "When I pull this chain, cry out as though it's really tight, okay?" Malik nodded, letting a cry of pain when she yanked the chain. Sakhmet smirked and stood.

Meanwhile, Akefia motioned to the thief who had been trying to kill Marik.

"I want a go." The thief backed off, putting his swords down. Akefia then grabbed hold of Marik's top, hauling him up and getting right into his face as though to intimidate him. His whispered words, however, said something entirely different. "We're going to duel, fairly. We'll use it to make the chains looser, and when I shout di, I will cut off the hand of the man who tried to kill you, got that, Captain?" Marik scowled.

"I got that, Thief King!" Akefia threw Marik off, before throwing a sword at him. Marik caught it with ease, while Akefia took out his own.

"Now, here are the rules." Akefia shouted out to the audience. "Myself and this Captain will duel _fair and square_." He smirked at that, making seem like he obviously planned to cheat. "If he wins, they all walk free. If I win...well...I'm sure you can imagine the consequences." At this the camp laughed maliciously.

"What are you, a comedian, or a thief?"

"What are you, a Captain or a whore?" Akefia replied. Marik growled.

"Diaha!" They shouted, before clashing together at a ferocious pace. There was cheering from all around as they fought on. Unfortunately, Marik was already worn out from his previous fight, and Akefia caught his sword against his own, slamming both into the ground before punching Marik hard in the face, sending the Captain reeling back, spitting blood. The two circled for a while, before clashing again, pride driving them both on.

Unnoticed by the rest of the camp, when the swords had hit the ground they had hit the stump the chains were tied to. A small push with Sakhmet's foot was enough to make the post fall over and the chains become free. They quietly stood on the outside of the ring surrounding Akefia and Marik, and Sakhmet passed them keys.

"You might want to stay and watch this outcome," she said, her eyes not wandering from the fight. "It'll be interesting." They stood and watched as the two men in the middle fought.

Marik had gained another wound on his chest, while Akefia had one on his left arm which he had used to guard himself from Marik's sword. Marik grimaced. He couldn't let this thief beat him in a fight. He charged forwards, only to find himself equally matched as their swords locked together in a perfect stalemate. At least, that's what it looked like. Akefia slowly pushed the blades to one side, and when they were far enough, released his grip with his right hand and punched Marik elbow, hearing and seeing it snap forwards, breaking it. Marik cried out in pain as his left arm when numb, and before he could react his sword was on the ground and Akefia's sword was pointed towards his throat. He looked to his right, and saw his sword within reaching distance. He slowly inched his hand out, all the time looking straight into Akefia's eyes.

Pain blossomed in his hand as Akefia stepped on it, hearing it crunching beneath his foot.

"I don't think so." Akefia smirked at the one panting and glaring below him. "What are your last words going to be then, Captain?"

"Fuck you." Marik growled. The camp grinned as they realised that Akefia was going to kill him. The royals gasped.

"No..." whispered Malik.

"Tie..." The camp waited with baited breath as the countdown began. "Sur..." The tension mounted, so thick it could be cut with a knife. Akefia leaned down. "...Di." With that word, Akefia swung round and slashed at the man who had fought Marik in the first place, slicing his right hand off in one clean sweep. Marik scrambled up and grabbed his sword, holding it up as though ready to fight any that came his way. "Well..." Akefia shouted out to his men, all of whom dropped to their knees.

"Mekra...please..." The man on the ground whimpered.

"Why did you capture them? Neither myself nor Dora have given any orders for this to happen, so who ordered it?" There was silence.

"Unless one of you speaks up, you will all lose your hands." Sakhmet told them, striding into the ring and holding up eight daggers.

"...The Black Witch." One man said. Akefia strode over to him.

"What?"

"Please don't hurt me Mekra...oh hell, please!" The man begged, his eyes watering.

"Then talk!" Akefia spat in his face.

"The Black Witch. She told us to...and she had this massive monster with us and threatened to kill our wives and children if we didn't comply...oh please, Mekra, I-" Akefia silenced him by throwing him to the ground.

"You'll be rewarded for your co-operation. As for the rest of you..." His eyes narrowed, and the man shivered, bowing their heads as low to the ground as they could. Akefia turned to the former captives. "Get out of my sight, kido." Guessing he meant them, they scrambled away, finding horses wandering in the dunes just outside the camp, and rode away, leaving Akefia and Sakhmet behind.

Sometime later, they all gathered back at the palace, Akefia and Sakhmet having sneaked in once again. They waited for their parents to arrive.

"Oh yeah, there's something I want to ask you." Marik said lightly, facing Akefia, who quirked an eyebrow in response. "Mekra? Dora? Kido?" Akefia smirked, then chuckled.

"Thieves code. Mekra means King, Dora means Princess, and Kido is a rather offensive term used to royals. If I gave you a direct translation, I'm pretty sure some of the more innocent ears would start to bleed."

_In Ancient Egypt, if you knew someone's name, then you had some form of power over them. Therefore, when Akefia gives the Pharaoh and Yami his name, he is showing them a bit of trust, if only to repay the trust they show him. _

_The pace is finally picking up, and we're now into the main story arc, rather than the first side-arc. Bakura will be called both Bakura and Akefia, which might be a little confusing at some points. Let's see if you can guess who each of the Kas belong to! Btw, some characters that hold Sennen Items don't have names and none of the main characters hold a Sennen Item at this point in time. If you want anything clearing up, just ask. _

_Also though no-one else has said anything, I do know that Sakhmet is a mild Mary-Sue. I have tried to rectify this, and she will be better in the sequel I promise. I'm trying to treat her the same as the other main characters._

_Also, this story will have 15 chapters overall, as will the planned sequel. Please review!_


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